Intimidation, Fear, and Love?
by Kitty-Kat Allie
Summary: Im, Jae-Soo is the gun-toting, emotionally-challenged representative of North Korea  DPRK  who gets enrolled into the World United Academy  maybe nefariously?  Thus unfolds a story of unlikely friends, loves, and enemies with too much drama. MANY pairings
1. Culture Shock

KKA: _I'm way too obsessed with this. Anyway! Here is the beginning of my Gakuen AU. Ever since I joined the roleplay forum, I've been obsessed with the idea of writing a Gakuen fanfic. I'm using the North Korea female character concept. She's just too adorable! I'm thinking about rping her, but, eh, finals are coming up, so rp is rather slow right now. ;_; Enjoy the insanity ahead. If y'all want to see any couple, lemme know! Being a high school fic, I was going to do a whole lot of different couples. _

_Finland, btw, will be called 'Timo' since one of my very favorite authors (whose Norway and Iceland name I will use), coeurgryffondor, told me that in Finnish, it would sound more like that than Tino. Besides, doesn't Tino sound more Italian? (I already thought this, so when she brought it up, I totally agreed.) I just looked up common surnames and baby names for the Asian countries._

Intimidation, Fear, and… Love?

Chapter One

Culture Shock

Im, Jae-Soo entered the sprawling campus of World United Academy. Still tired and wanting a shower after her long flight from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, otherwise known as North Korea, to the United Kingdom, the last thing Jae-Soo wanted was to run into anybody. It was just _so hard_ to think in English, and the _lingua franca_ of this nations-sponsored school was, of course, English. So when she saw the slender, blond, and green-eyed older boy at the school gates, she was not pleased.

As she neared, she noticed his ridiculously bushy, almost-black eyebrows. His features were rather girlish, pretty really, the brows and annoyed scowl only enhancing his good looks, oddly. He wore the standard summer uniform for boys. She noticed with satisfaction that he wore it properly, necktie and all the buttons in place and freshly starched and ironed. He wore a bright orange sash that crossed his chest and read "Student Council." Beside him, a young girl with long brown hair in loose pigtails and darkly tanned skin yawned widely. She wore an orange band around her left bicep that read "Disciplinary Officer." She did not look like she was really serious about discipline, though. Her skirt was too short, her socks were bright pink and her red shoes weren't the school-issued ones. She had completely foregone the necktie and the top two buttons of her shirt were undone. Jae-Soo's mouth twisted up to the side in annoyance. Even if classes hadn't officially started, the girl should at least have the appearance of discipline when in an office of authority.

Behind the two students the three-story high brick building with blue wood trim loomed high. The grounds were expansive; neatly mowed lawns of rich green the color of the boy's eyes spread out on all sides and towering trees with wide, leafy canopies lined the high brick walls and were scattered over the grounds. She knew there were even more grounds behind the building that included a baseball field, a futball field, an indoor ice-rink, and a lot of miscellaneous gyms, laboratories, and auditoriums. If she remembered correctly, they even had a large telescope housed in its own building for astronomy classes. Peeking from around the back corner to the left she could see the high glass and iron walls of a conservatory and far behind the main building to the right connected by covered breezeways she could see two low-roofed buildings with a lot of windows. Through the windows and around those low buildings she could see at least eighty other students coming and going, some still carrying their luggage. Most, like herself, were not wearing their uniforms yet.

Painstakingly switching her mental dialogue to English, she approached the two student council members.

"Good afternoon. I am Im, Jae-Soo. I am a freshman in the Asian Class." She bowed to the boy while the girl yawned again.

"I'm Arthur Kirkland, the student council president. If you have any questions, just let me know. I'm a third year, so I know the ins and outs of this menagerie rather well." The boy grinned at her, looking pleased at her respectful tone. "This is the map of school grounds. You said Im, Jae-Soo, right? I can't recall what Asian country hasn't checked in yet…" He frowned as he looked down at the clipboard in his hands.

Jae-Soo mentally sighed, knowing what would happen next. "I have recently arrived from Pyongyang of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, President Kirkland," she told him simply and unapologetically.

Kirkland gaped at her in shock while the girl tilted her head to the side curiously.

"Which Korea is that one?" the girl asked.

Jae-Soo barely restrained the urge to roll her eyes. "North."

"OH! Wow! Arthur, she really came! I didn't know the North Korean representative would be a girl! And so cute! _Tres bien_!" She exclaimed. "I'm Michelle Bonnefoy!"

_Does she really need that many exclamation points?_ Jae-Soo wondered irritably. "May I please receive the map of the school grounds?"

"Oh, yes, sorry." Kirkland handed the map over, chuckling self-mockingly. He looked down at the list again. "You will be rooming with Mosa, Hsiao Mei in dorm A7. She is a freshman, as well, and is the Taiwanese representative. Welcome to World United Academy… Jay Sue?"

"The proper pronunciation is _Jeh_ Soo." She bowed again and began to walk towards the dormitories.

"She's so cyu~te!" Jae-Soo heard Bonnefoy squeal for a second time as she passed.

"Stop yawning, damn it! At least _look_ professional!"

"But we've been standing here _all day_, Artie!"

"Don't call me that!"

Jae-Soo pulled the rope of her large, wheeled suitcase harder. _Cute, huh_? She scoffed inwardly. She _hated_ that word. Jae-Soo was your stereotypical Asian girl- she was ridiculously short. Barely clearing the 5' mark, she had heard the adjective 'cute' applied to her since she was five years old. In her opinion, _cute_ stopped being a compliment on her thirteenth birthday. She figured her face was pleasant enough, even though she didn't smile very often. She had big brown eyes, long lashes that gave her eyes a catlike look, a small, well-shaped mouth that was a pleasant 'lotus-pink' color, a not-quite-button nose, and a pale, creamy complexion that her mother complimented her on… once. She had pretty hands and an agreeable curve to her hips and chest and a slender waist. Did she get compliments on any of those features? No. She was _cute_ because she was _short_.

_Yennidu pabo ya, _she snarled viciously in her head.

As for clothing, she could really care less. At home, she normally wore simple _choson-ot_ of red and white. Her mother had insisted she buy Western clothing, however, when she was nominated by the government to be DPRK's representative. Today, she was wearing one of her new outfits consisting of a long, pleated, red skirt and a white, long-sleeved blouse (she liked those colors, all right?). She touched the good-luck charm that her mother had given her when she was a child. It had been handed down for generations and the carved Hangul had long worn down so much that she couldn't read them. She rubbed the oval jade pendant hanging on the thin red thread and then quickened her footsteps. It was time to get on with it.

"HEY! Watch out, kid!" A loud boy's voice shouted over the lawn.

She looked up and, within one breath and the next, assessed the situation. A tall, slender boy with silver hair and wild, startled red eyes was falling towards her from the sky, a bright green plastic disc in his hand. She dropped the duffel bag and the rope from the suitcase. Her body automatically positioned itself, legs spread, arms tucked into her sides. Brown eyes narrowed.

"Yop… CHAAA-GI!" She exclaimed. The bottom of her foot met the red-eyed boy's face. Direct hit.

The two other boys watched with wide, amazed eyes as their friend went flying over the lawn. THUD! The crumbled heap that used to be their friend landed _hard_ a good ten feet away.

"Gilbert!"

With a sigh, Jae-Soo relaxed from her stance. She bowed towards the boys. Both were rather tall and wearing casual jeans and T-shirts. The dirtier one had tanned skin, messy dark brown hair, and big green eyes. The other, somehow grass-stain-free, had long, ridiculously-girlish blond hair, and bright blue eyes. "I apologize if I hurt him." She picked up her things and continued towards the dormitories unperturbed. They stared after her, gaping.

On the grass, Gilbert Beilschmidt groaned and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. "What the hell happened? Did Lizza just kick me in the face from nowhere?"

"No… that was not Elizabeta," the blue-eyed boy replied slowly. His mouth slowly curved up into a smirk. "That was fresh mea- I mean, a new girl. Honhonhon~"

The brunette with big green eyes helped Gilbert to his feet. "I think she was Asian. We were supposed to get a few more this year in the Asian Class. You okay, Gil?"

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Tonio. Hey, Francis, that girl kicks harder than Lizza. I suggest you _not_ get on her bad side. Ow, damn it!" Gilbert tenderly fingered the large bruise darkening on his face. His fingertips came away wet with blood. "I've got a fuckin' bloody nose! Shit!"

"She was kinda cute, though. What a kick for such a tiny girl, no?" Antonio grinned up at Gilbert, whom punched his shoulder irritably. "Elizabeta's room is closer than the nurse's office. We'll go there."

"She'll be really excited to hear about the new girl," Francis added. The trio followed after the fresh…man…

.

Jae-Soo reached A7 without further occurrences. Next to the door was a name slot. Beside her name was a small depiction of her country's flag and above it was Taiwan's flag and the name _Mosa, Hsiao Mei_. She didn't think Mosa was very… Asiatic, but maybe her roommate was a half-breed or something. Down the hall she could hear the high-pitched squeals of over-excited teenage girls, a handful of different languages all mixing together. _Please, please, may my roommate be sane._

She pushed open the door, ready to jump back, just in case.

Fortunately, a crazed girl ready with glomp-attack did not jump on her. Jae-Soo stepped into the room, examining the side of the room that was already mostly moved in. The Taiwanese girl had chosen the left side (when facing into the room) and had already made her bed with bright pink, floral patterned sheets and comforter. A blue and pink alarm clock with a small bunny holding a hammer was on the nightstand surrounded by pictures frames that were all decorated differently. Two large suitcases were open on the floor filled with colorful clothes and another suitcase was filled with only… shoes. Just… shoes… An empty duffel bag was on the bed and a girl with long brown hair stood on her tiptoes on the mattress. The girl was, as usually was the case, a few inches taller than Jae-Soo with a slender, yet curvy figure that was just as in shape as her own. She wondered if this girl did martial arts, too. Whatever she did to keep in shape, she probably did it more for her appearance than self-defense or a penchant for physical exertion. She wore thigh-high white stockings with pink lace ruffles and a _very_ short white skirt with pink flower patches on it—though the skirt looked brand-new, so why did it have those freaky patches? Her long-sleeved blouse belled over her wrists and the pink-and-gold embroidery and the cut was vaguely Chinese. The girl turned when the door opened, a poster of a Korean pop girl-band in her hands. Not only did she dress well and have a nice shape, but her face was very pretty. Big brown eyes, pert nose, wide, smiling mouth with soft pink lips, and something soft and shiny overall about her face. A single strand of hair fell over her face, curling slightly near the end, and a flower barrette was tucked just over her right ear. She smiled in delight and hopped off the bed gracefully. Jae-Soo noted how lightly she landed, impressed.

"Hiya! I'm Mosa, Hsiao Mei! Just call me Hsiao Mei, or Meimei. I had no idea that North Korea would actually participate in WUA! How exciting, right? Let's be friends, okay? We'll be living together for _four_ years, you know!"

_Exclamation points again. _

"Im, Jae-Soo. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mosa, Hsiao Mei." She bowed slightly. Mosa, Hsiao Mei laughed. It was a nice sound, soft and infectious. If Jae-Soo laughed, that is. (She didn't, just so you know.)

"You're so formal! Do you need me to help you unpack? I'm just putting up posters now. Oh, I bet you know this band, huh?" Hsiao Mei laughed again and laid the poster on her bed.

"I do not have much to unpack." Jae-Soo paused, once more looking at the shoes. "Is that a suitcase filled only with… _shoes_?"

"Oh! Yes! Don't tell me you don't like shoes? I have a burning, all-consuming passion for shoes. I love fashion in general, isn't this a cute skirt, but I really love shoes," Hsiao Mei explained easily, reaching to grab Jae-Soo's duffel bag. It was a very _large_ duffel bag, military-issued, that had once been her father's. Hsiao Mei handled it with ease, confirming Jae-Soo's theory that she did some sort of sport or attended a gym regularly.

"I have a sufficient amount of shoes. I have one for jogging, one for every day wear, one for formal occasions, and a pair of shower sandals. For what could you possibly need so many pairs?" Jae-Soo asked incredulously. Hsiao Mei laughed a third time.

"So I have choices! I couldn't wear these boots with this skirt, right?" She held up a pair of brown leather boots with short, fat heels. Jae-Soo looked at them and then at Hsiao Mei's earnest face.

"Whyever not?"

Hsiao Mei stared at her. "B-Because!"

Silence.

"Oh my. Please, if you ever go on a date, let me pick your clothes for you," Hsiao Mei pleaded as she touched her forehead with a weary look on her face. Jae-Soo shrugged. She wasn't planning on dating anyway.

"HEY! MO! There's a flier for baseball-Huh? Who's this?" A loud, obnoxious voice flooded the room. A boy's voice.

Jae-Soo turned, frowning. A blond-haired boy (she was tired of thinking 'tall' since everyone was tall compared to her) with a cowlick over his forehead stood in the doorway. He had a boyish, young face, still a little chubby around the edges, and bright blue eyes. Glasses slid down his nose as he grabbed ahold of the doorjamb to slow his forward momentum. He also wore large brown bomber jacket with a gold star on one shoulder and the number 50 on the other… in the middle of August. _Isn't he hot?_

"This is my roommate! Her name is Im, Jae-Soo. Jae-Soo, this loud, rude guy is Alfred F. Jones. He's a first year like us. We both got here at the same time. We saw each other's baseball equipment and became instant friends," Hsiao Mei told Jae-Soo with a grin towards the American. (He could only be American with manners like that.)

"This is the girls' dormitories. I was under the assumption that the rules stated that no males were allowed in the building unless they were authorized personnel," Jae-Soo raised her eyebrow at Alfred F. Jones. He only grinned.

"What are ya, on the Disciplinary Committee? It's barely noon. I doubt any girl is running around in her chonies right now."

Jae-Soo frowned. "Chonies?"

"American slang. Don't worry about it, Jae-Soo." Hsiao Mei interrupted. "What was it about baseball, Alfred?"

"Just Al, Mo. Alfred is so old-fashioned, yo. They, like, put up a sheet for try-outs on the bulletin in the quad. I already put your name up, but I didn't know how to spell it. It just says 'Mo' right now."

"I'll fix it in a minute. I was going to help Jae-Soo first."

"That will be unnecessary. I truly do not have much. You can leave if you must." Jae-Soo told her again. Alfred F. Jones laughed. Unlike Hsiao Mei's bubbly sort of laughter, his sounded _annoying_.

"Dude, why do you talk like my mom's old movies? It's totally whack, yo!"

"What you just said made no sense whatsoever," Jae-Soo retorted, deadpanned.

"I need to finish unpacking, too. I'll stay. How about we meet you in the quad in thirty minutes, Al? It's almost time for dinner, so we can all go together," Hsiao Mei offered brightly.

"As much as his presence annoys me, I would appreciate joining you for dinner, Hsiao Mei. I am not used to Western eating habits and would require assistance, I believe."

"You won't have a problem. Western… eating habits are pretty lax," Hsiao Mei assured her with a smile.

"Yeah, and we're totally having hamburgers tonight! I checked. Cool, right? You can call me Al, too, Jay Sue."

"_Jeh _Soo."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm just gonna call ya Sue," Alfred pouted, scratching inside his ear with his pinky. Jae-Soo looked over at Hsiao Mei with a disgusted expression on her face. Hsiao Mei only giggled and shrugged. 'American,' Hsiao Mei mouthed silently. Jae-Soo sighed.

"I would prefer to call you Jones. If you must call me _Sue,_ then you may," Jae-Soo conceded.

"Sweet! I'll see y'all soon!"

Jae-Soo and Hsiao Mei watched him leave. The shorter girl turned and met the taller's gaze.

"Y'all?"

"I have no idea."

.

It didn't take long to unpack. In fact, Jae-Soo was done before Hsiao Mei, whom had more than a two hour head-start. The two girls left soon after, Hsiao Mei eagerly filling in Jae-Soo on all the cool clubs they should join. The quad was a stretch of grass between the two dormitories in the shape of a long rectangle. A bulletin board was in the exact middle of the grass with posters and notices tacked to the corkboard. Quite a few students were milling around the board, some of them signing name sheets.

"Were you going to sign up for a sports, Jae-Soo? We have a lot of them here," Hsiao Mei asked with a smile. "I'm joining baseball if you want to play with someone you've already met."

"I… I do not enjoy athletics. I am already a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I prefer to train by myself."

"A second-degree black belt?" Hsiao Mei exclaimed, brown eyes shocked and impressed. "I do tai chi for fun, but I've never met someone so intense about martial arts before!"

"I thank you," Jae-Soo responded simply. Hsiao Mei wondered if that actually made sense, but then decided that it made more sense than any other reply.

"Mo! Sue!"

That obnoxious American was back. Jae-Soo scowled as he bounded over to them. Beside Alfred, his presence barely noticed in the wake of Alfred's over-exuberance, a young man with a face remarkably like Alfred's walked towards them. His hair was several shades lighter than Alfred's, wavier, and a strand of hair much like Hsiao Mei's hung over his nose. His eyes seemed more violet than blue. His soft smile was soothing instead of irritating.

"Hello~ My name is Matthew Williams." He greeted Jae-Soo and Hsiao Mei politely, quietly. Jae-Soo wondered where he misplaced his spine. He was still better than Alfred.

"This is my brother! He's my twin, actually."

"But… your names…" Hsiao Mei stumbled, blushing. "Excuse me that was rude."

"No way! Our parents divorced when we were kids, it's no big deal." Alfred shrugged.

"I grew up in Canada with our mother," Matthew explained softly. Jae-Soo nodded in silent understanding. "You all were on your way to the cafeteria, eh? Al told me you were all going together."

"Yup. Hamburgers, right, Alfred?" Hsiao Mei grinned at her baseball friend. Alfred 'tsk'ed. Casually, he slung his arm over Hsiao Mei's shoulders and began to drag her towards the cafeteria.

"It's _Al_, Mo. _Al_. What position do you play for baseball?"

As the two began to devolve into talk about unnecessary garbage, Jae-Soo let herself fall into step with Matthew.

"I'm really sorry about him. He's… He's a little overbearing, but his heart is in the right place. You'll get used to him," Matthew assured her with that gentle, slightly exasperated smile on his face. Jae-Soo blinked up at him wordlessly.

"Are you ashamed of your own brother?" She asked, one eyebrow rising. Matthew's pretty purple eyes widened.

"No. No, of course not," Matthew protested indignantly, though his voice didn't rise very much. "However, I'm not going to pretend that he doesn't come off well with everyone. You didn't seem too impressed. It took me years to get used to him. I rarely saw him when we were children."

"I see." Jae-Soo paused. "I am ashamed of my brother." A look of pain crossed her features. "I too have a twin whom left with my father when we were barely more than toddlers. I met him again a few years before now. He is ridiculous. You must avoid him if you can do so," she told him, her brown eyes dead-serious.

Matthew sweated slightly. This was one weird girl.

.

_KKA: And now a LONG author's note. Next chapter will be more fun, I promise. I'm just introducing characters now. ^^ Terms and other random facts that may have confused you:_

_Im Jae-Soo: I'm sure you recognize 'Im' as S. Korea's surname. I wanted to re-use the second syllable of his name, because within families in Asian cultures, a lot of the times there's a shared syllable in the names. Jae-Soo together is not a used Korean name (or at least, it's not in the baby book online), but I really liked 'Jae' before I actually looked it up. So, separately, the two syllables mean "honor" and "treasure." So, I am pretending her name means "Honorable treasure." Cool, huh? All the Asian names I chose have a specific meaning except for HongKong's. Cantonese is confusing. _

_Lingua franca: the common tongue. Basically, the language chosen to be the one used by everyone, or the majority. English is the lingua franca for a lot of countries and I think for the world in most situations._

_Michelle Bonnefoy: Apparently Michelle is a common name applied to Seychelles, but I gave her Francis's name because 1) she was a French colony 2) I don't want to pair them 3) so I made them cousins._

_Futball: I will be using this to refer to soccer. _

_Pyongyang of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea: the capital city and North Korea's official name… apparently. I had no idea until I tried looking up the capital because I thought it was Pyongpyong or something like that. Haha. Will be referred to as DPRK or N. Korea within context depending on speaker._

_Yennidu pabo ya: My roommate is S. Korean and he said that this means something like "stupid kids." I tried to write out how it sounded when he said it. I'm a better Asian than he is, so he has no idea how to Romanize what he says. (No, I am not Asian at all. I'm just better at being Asian. His parents agree.)_

_Choson-ot: The North Korea way of saying "hanbok." Or at least, Wikipedia said so. If it's wrong, please lemme know. Stupid, unreliable . Seeing as my roommate is S.K. and not from DPRK and a bad Asian anyway, I couldn't confirm with him. _

_Yop Cha-gi: "side kick"- My friend (another white girl who's a better Tae Kwon Do artist than my Korean roommate) sent me a link to her Tae Kwon Do school and the names of different moves and positions. _

_Hangul: Korean alphabet._

_Mosa: Will be explained in context._

_Glomp-attack: If you don't know, then why are you HERE?_

_Chonies: Panties. I have used this slang myself. I also use y'all. XD_

_Lastly, Jae-Soo's strange way of speaking: It isn't that she's super formal (though that does play a slight factor. Yay, Asian register! Sorry, Linguistics major here). It's supposed to reflect North Korean dialect and education. I learned that North Korea's Korean dialect is actually more traditional than South Korean. In other words, the past couple decades of slang and linguistic evolution in S. Korea wouldn't be in N. Korean dialect. So I'm attempted to make her English a little older, like Jane Austen kind of sound. I also figured that their textbooks may be out-of-date in some places because of DPRK's extreme isolation and would be in the British English dialect. When I went to China, they used British English (which was totally odd at first). The little bit of Korean I use, sadly, will be S. Korean dialect, so I won't be using a lot of it. N. Koreans are hard to come by doncha know? _


	2. Getting to Know Your Classmates

_Kitty: So, I won't be doing such long ANs ever again. I hate long author notes likes that, but I kinda thought some of it was necessary. Remember, if anyone wants some fanservice, put it in a review. I'm anti-a few pairings, but I might give it a go anyway for the fun of it._

_Thanks to The Embodiements of Lazy. Creating likeable, non-Mary-Sue OCs is very difficult, so *bows* thank you very much. _

_Also, Lian-kun, I'mma gonna do it right this time. *sigh*_

Intimidation, Fear, and… Love?

Chapter Two

Getting to Know Your Classmates (aka the Boring Chapter)

The first day at WUA ended uneventfully. The next day, classes began. Jae-Soo and Hsiao Mei had gone over their class schedules and found that their classes were all the same. All the classes in the school were considered an "elevated" level, so all the students were expected to pass and exceed the expectations. Jae-Soo understood the reasoning: they were training to become world diplomats, the school was better than most private schools with top-end technology and equipment, a great food selection to appeal to appetites from around the world, and unlimited hot water in the bathrooms. The least the students could do was be the best they possibly could be.

Jae-Soo, however, was not looking forward to most of her classes. Earth Science and Advanced Trigonometry seemed all right, but everything else seemed ridiculous. Religion? Literature? English? One other language not spoken in native country? Oh, and Geography? In Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the only map she had ever seen was one of Democratic People's Republic of Korea. She didn't even know where Seoul was and South Korea was where her own flesh and blood lived! Physical Education? Surely not! … Computer Science? Computers weren't science! They were evil abominations! Where was the military tactics class? The weapons of mass destruction education? Oh, there was Military History, that would be nice- wait, Ancient History, too? Oh, dear sweet Motherland, why did she agree to come to this place?

Hsiao Mei was babbling on excitedly as they walked to their first class, however, not at all daunted by the volume or subjects of their class schedule. It may be even better that Hsiao Mei was her roommate than Jae-Soo had originally thought. Hsiao Mei was not only Asian, a strangely Americanized Asian, but Asian nonetheless, but also a straight A student. Perhaps Hsiao Mei would agree to tutor her?

"Aren't you excited, Jae-Soo? There are so many students we haven't met yet, and all these interesting classes to attend, but you don't seem very interested…?" Hsiao Mei trailed off, looking down at the shorter girl, brows coming together over the bridge of her nose.

Jae-Soo bit back a sigh. Sometimes the strangely Americanized Asian girl could be very observant. "I do not enjoy school," Jae-Soo replied simply.

"Not at all? Don't you like the idea of making new friends, or learning new things? What about clubs or sports or parties or-"

"No."

"Aiya~ Why?" Hsiao Mei exclaimed, horrified.

"I do not have an extroverted personality, Hsiao Mei. I do not make friends easily, nor do I enjoy large groups of people. I have found pleasure and pride in my years of Tae Kwon Do, but I am not very athletic and cannot function well as a member of a team. I also have always had atrocious academic rankings. Military history, basic mathematics, and sciences have been the only subjects in which I have any interest or talent."

Hsiao Mei's normally smiling mouth turned down sadly, but not for long. Her usual sunny smile returned in remarkable time. "You know, you made friends pretty easily here. Me, Al, and Matthew. Maybe the rest of school will be better this time, too," Hsiao Mei pointed out optimistically.

Jae-Soo frowned up at Hsiao Mei, baffled. "We are friends?"

"Of course!"

"I thank you," Jae-Soo glanced towards her feet, a light shade of pink on her cheekbones. "I have not had a friend before now. Perhaps we could study together and school will be as easy as making friends has become."

Hsiao Mei laughed, smiling so wide it was as if she was smiling for both of them. "Don't forget about Al and Matthew!"

"I wish it were possible to forget about Jones," Jae-Soo muttered darkly.

"Hey, did I hear my name, Mo? Whaddup, Sue?"

Jae-Soo glared irritably up at Alfred as the American boy ran up and slung an arm over both their shoulders. "Jones, I told you not to touch me."

"Aw, you're so mean, Sue!"

"Alfred, catch," An apple hurtled towards Alfred's face, right over Jae-Soo's head. One thing Jae-Soo would give him, Jones had quick, accurate reflexes. He caught the apple easily in one hand and then blinked down at it, confused. His brain hadn't quite caught up with his instincts.

"Matt! What were you thinking? You coulda hit me, or Sue!" Alfred complained as he tucked the apple in his bomber jacket pocket. Today, the star on the shoulder seemed to have moved to his chest (was it a new one or the same one?).

"I wasn't aiming for Jae-Soo," Matthew responded without any remorse. Alfred stuck out his tongue at Matthew, whom only shrugged and grinned.

"Al, can I see your schedule again? I think we _do_ have the same computer science teacher," Hsiao Mei quickly jumped in.

"Yeah! That'd be cool."

As the two loudly enthusiastic teens went over their schedules, Jae-Soo turned to Matthew.

"You have my thanks. You are more cunning than you appear. I wonder if Jones noticed that after you threw that apple, he no longer had his arm resting upon me."

"Let's not point it out," Matthew advised wisely, smiling. "And your classes? What is your first period?"

"…" Jae-Soo looked up at him blankly, then began to rummage around in her bag. "I am sure I had memorized the list just moments ago." Matthew chuckled while she searched. Finally, she pulled her schedule out and looked it over. "I have advanced Trigonometry first."

"So do I. I guess it's true, all the first years take classes together," Matthew frowned softly.

"That does make sense. There are only 163 recognized nations in the world. If every country sent a single representative, the school would still be very bare."

"Some countries have more than one, though. I heard that Italy, and Germany, too, had two reps. I wonder why. Neither of those countries is particularly more affluent than say, America, or more populous than China, for example," Matthew tapped his chin in thought.

"That is a good question. If we meet these double representatives, we should inquire into this anomaly from them," Jae-Soo suggested, her own brows lowered in concentration. "Perhaps one of them will be in first year."

"That would make it a little easier to track them down, eh?" Matthew joked. Jae-Soo nodded seriously, making Matthew chuckle quietly.

Jae-Soo paused, a lick of freezing cold running up her spine. Someone was watching her. She spun on her heel, brown eyes scanning the corridors through the milling students around them. No one seemed to be looking in her direction, though. _Could I have imagined it?_ She shrugged her shoulders, her hair still standing on end like a nervous cat. _There_. A tall, fair-haired figure was turning away. She moved to the side, hoping to get a better look.

"Jae-Soo? What is it?"

Distracted, Jae-Soo turned to Matthew. "Just a moment- Never you mind. The person is gone," Jae-Soo sighed irritably.

"Eh?"

"I had the odd feeling that someone was observing us. I may have caught sight of the perpetrator. However, you distracted me and the person has now exited the corridor," Jae-Soo explained, resuming her walk towards the first years' hall. They began the trek up the stairwell and Jae-Soo finally noticed that Alfred and Hsiao Mei were long gone.

"I think this is the third year wing. Why would a third year be staring at us? Hey, don't you have a brother, maybe it was him?"

"I have a _twin_ brother. I do know an older student, though. My mother informed me that a Chinese boy I was once acquainted with was also accepted to this program. He is a fourth year."

"Well, fourth years are on the same floor as third years. It was probably him."

"Perhaps," Jae-Soo conceded doubtfully. _Then, who was the pale haired boy I saw?_

They finally made it to their classroom. Matthew pushed the door open and motioned her to precede him. As she stepped forward, she caught sight of his rapidly paling face.

"What is wrong?" Jae-Soo asked.

"I really hope we have the wrong classroom," Matthew breathed out. Jae-Soo stepped back and looked at the classroom number over the door.

"This is our classroom," Jae-Soo confirmed. Matthew groaned. Curious and apprehensive, Jae-Soo peeked around the doorjamb and her jaw dropped.

Alfred was standing on his chair making swinging motions as if he was holding a bat while Hsiao Mei was tugging on his shirt, hissing at him to sit down. A very unimpressed, though very pretty, blonde girl was staring up at him, frowning. One blond boy with almost girlish features was chasing a brunette with a bandage over his nose whom was holding a fluffy white _puppy_ while laughing maniacally. One Asian boy that Jae-Soo recognized immediately as her own identical twin was draped over a diminutive Japanese boy whom seemed to be reaching for the katana hanging from his desk and sweating profusely. One boy was hanging out a window, only his plaid-clad butt showing while a tall, muscular boy with spectacles held onto his waist and yelled at him in strongly accented English. Another blond-haired boy was applying lipstick while checking himself in the mirror and nearby three other boys, two blondes and one brunette, argued over something on a laptop. As they watched, Im Yong-Soo was violently judo-thrown across the room onto a tiny, blonde girl's desk and a once-neatly packed lunchbox was flung to the ground, spilling sandwiches and pickles everywhere. An oasis of calm was a pale-haired boy reading a book about ghosts while a _puffin_ sat on his head.

"That looks like a whole lot of fun," A very _unanimated_ voice observed behind Matthew and Jae-Soo.

The two twisted around in surprise. The voice belonged to a short, chestnut-brown-haired Asian boy with dark eyes lazily half-lidded. His hands were shoved in his pockets and his face was as expressionless as his voice. He looked… familiar. Jae-Soo slammed one fist into the opposite palm as it came to her.

"Kam, Chun-Yuen, from the Sunshine Preschool Academy," Jae-Soo remembered. "I did not know you also were accepted here."

"Surprised me, too. I think, like, all the old SPA gang is here. Saw Niran just a second ago," the petite HongKongese shrugged nonchalantly. "We should join in the fun before the teacher gets here. Classes start in, like, five more minutes."

Matthew and Jae-Soo stared at him, blinking slowly, as if they heard him wrong. Another loud crash brought their attention back to the room. Somehow, Alfred had fallen to the blonde-haired girl's feet and, in process of sitting up, got an eyeful under her skirt. The resulting kick had sent him tumbling down the aisle.

"Al!" Matthew darted into the room without thinking further.

"That's the spirit," Kam, Chun-Yuen applauded without any change in his tone or expression. Jae-Soo sighed and followed after the Canadian into the room.

What else could possibly happen now?

Jae-Soo set her bag on a desk behind Hsiao Mei's chosen seat. She then sat in her chair and waited for the insanity to end. Hopefully the teacher would get here soon and end it. She glanced around the room and saw Chun-Yuen walk over to her brother and pull him away from the Japanese boy. The little blonde girl was trying to wipe up the pickle juice and general food mess with tears in her eyes and muttering something about 'big brother.' The two from the window had managed to pull themselves back in and were leaning down to help her. It seemed like the big, bespectacled, blond boy knew the girl. Other than that, it was still general chaos.

Just as the ruined lunch was thrown in the trash, the door opened again. Framed by the doorway, a tall, statuesque woman with naturally tanned skin stood watching the class. Black eyes scanned the room, took in the disheveled students whom all blinked back, shocked and frozen. Her dark eyes rolled and then she stepped up to the desk just as the bell rang, jarring every students like they'd been punched in the ear. Jae-Soo winced in pain. That was _loud_.

"Homeroom has begun, kids. After the morning announcement, I will take role. Please prepare your anthology of short stories and poetry. You will be reading the foreword and introduction to yourselves. When every student has finished, we will discuss as a class in an orderly, exact fashion with well-thought out questions. It would help if you wrote them down as they came to you."

With that, their teacher turned to the whiteboard and took up a dry-erase marker. In bold red letters, she wrote **Professor Hinti Hattusili**. Just in front of her, Hsiao Mei slid into her seat, blushing and shame-faced. There was a muffled 'ow' from Alfred and then the blonde girl sat at Hsiao Mei's side. Wincing, Alfred took his seat on Hsiao Mei's other side and Matthew sat behind him next to Jae-Soo. Matthew turned to Jae-Soo and mouthed the word 'Professor' with a confused look in his purple eyes. Jae-Soo shrugged. She, being non-native to English, didn't understand the difference between professor, teacher, or even doctor.

Hinti Hattusili was probably the most simplistic teacher, for which Jae-Soo was grateful. Everyone read, a few people asked questions, and she assigned them the first short story to read and write a short summary about in a formal English essay. After Literature was Trigonometry with Dr. Karpusi. It was nice enough- very straight forward, precise, and the teacher mostly slept after assigning them problems. Her brother kept throwing balled up paper at her to get her attention whenever he wasn't pestering Honda, Kiku. It had taken all of her iron will to ignore the annoyance. (She didn't count slamming his face into his desk as she walked out the class as giving in to him.) Her third class was Earth Science, which ended up being a boring lecture about rocks in a poor English accent that Jae-Soo couldn't _quite_ understand. Luckily, they would eventually talk about tidal waves, gravity, wind patterns, and planets. Rocks were down-right dull, though. Hopefully, they'd get to volcanoes soon. She had also managed to be seated _behind_ her brother, so he couldn't throw anything at her this time. When Earth Science was over, the foursome group, (or was it now a fivesome since that blonde girl was sticking close to Hsiao Mei?) found the classroom for English, which was taught by a red-haired, foul-mouthed man with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, which made it even harder to understand him because he spoke with a really thick accent which Hsiao Mei had told her was Scottish.

After the first four classes (each fifty minutes long with a ten minute break to find the next class), the first years _finally_ split up for electives. The options had been Art, Band, Orchestra, Military History, and Study Hall. Her brother, (thankyouthankyouthankyou) had chosen Study Hall. Hsiao Mei and Jae-Soo walked towards the Orchestra room, Hsiao Mei waving good-bye to an equally cheerfully waving Alfred. Alfred and Matthew had gone to Band (Alfred played saxophone and a little bit of guitar while Matthew played trumpet) and the blonde girl Hsiao Mei had made friends with, Natalie or Natalia, had gone to Art along with Chun-Yuen. Chun-Yuen had actually gone out of his way to talk to her when he wasn't keeping Yong-Soo off Kiku. He had promised to bring Niran, her old Thai friend, over to say hi during lunch, which was after elective.

"Let's see, after Orchestra, there's lunch, then Geography with G-Gupta, I think that's how you say it. Then, Ancient History with a woman named Nedakh, followed by PE and our elected second language. I chose Portuguese. What did you choose?"

"Japanese."

"Aren't Japanese and Korean very similar?"

"That is the point."

"Oh," Hsiao Mei frowned softly. "That takes the fun outta learning something new, though, doesn't it?"

"I do not like learning useless information. I need to learn English, but I do not perceive the point of learning yet another language. Hence, I chose Japanese because this confounded institution requires it of me. I thought we also have Computer Science and Religion?"

"Oh, we only have those classes on Fridays, instead of our usual electives, see?" Hsiao Mei pointed at her schedule.

"Yes," Jae-Soo replied in a monotone. "Why must we need take these many classes?"

"I guess because they want us to know all this stuff. In our third year, we get free periods," Hsiao Mei informed her with a hopeful smile.

"Oh, joyous news," Jae-Soo retorted, very unimpressed.

Hsiao Mei sighed. She visibly brightened as they rounded a corner. "Oh, there's the class. It's a mixed class, so there should be all the other years here, too!"

"I wish I had chosen Military History. My mother insisted I continue violin, though."

"You can take it next year!" Hsiao Mei threw open the door and jumped eagerly inside.

The room was rather sparsely populated with few people Jae-Soo recognized (one of them was the tiny blonde girl from the pickle disaster). Chairs were set up in a semicircle in front of a chalkboard with black stands situated before them. A bookshelf filled to bursting with music books and extra bits of rosin, polishing cloths, and strings completely filled one wall. Large basses, a few cellos, and stools stood against the wall not in direct sunlight from the many shining windows. The carpet was a simple, pleasant blue and a few comfy armchairs were grouped around a large flatscreen TV attached to very nice speakers. A young man with wavy brown hair sat at a piano near the basses talking with a petite blonde boy that Jae-Soo vaguely recognized. Vivid green eyes looked up at them, bushy brows rising.

"You two are almost late," Arthur Kirkland, student council president, pointed out dryly.

"President Kirkland," Jae-Soo bowed quickly, rather flustered. She was never very good around authority figures. "It is a pleasure to meet you again."

He blushed slightly as his lips quirked up into a shy smirk. "Why, thank you, representative. Could you repeat your name once more?"

"Im, Jae-Soo, sir."

"Ah, yes. And your friend?" Intrigued green eyes fell on Hsiao Mei, who grinned and waved a little.

"My name is Hsiao Mei. Mosa, Hsiao Mei. You can call me MeiMei, though. _Hsiao_ is sometimes difficult for Westerners," Hsiao Mei offered magnanimously.

"That's a very pretty name, Ms. MeiMei. What does it mean?" Arthur asked, taking on the role of an English gentleman with ease. Hsiao Mei burst out laughing.

"It actually means 'beautiful,' so you're spot on, Mr. Kirkland," Hsiao Mei told him, brown eyes twinkling in mirth. Arthur laughed with her.

"Please, call me Arthur."

"Thank you, I will."

"_Ahem_. Arthur?" The brunette interrupted, looking put-out and confused. Arthur looked distinctly embarrassed to have forgotten him.

"I'm terribly sorry. This is Roderich Edelstein. He's a fourth year and a pretty swell chap. He can play violin and piano quite well. He's bloody brilliant, actually," Arthur hurried to say. Both girls bowed.

"Just Roderich is fine." The fourth year smiled softly at them.

Behind them came the sound of running footsteps. The door slammed open and a young woman almost fell through the door. She wore a purple skirt suit, white heels, and a white silk blouse under the purple blazer, though her striped neckerchief was loose. A riotous mass of silken dark auburn hair fell around her adorably frazzled and yet beautiful face. Her eyes were bright gold and framed with long, elegant lashes.

"Professor Vargas, let me help you," Kirkland quickly offered, reaching for the poorly stacked books under one of her arms. From the other side of the room, yet another boy stepped forward.

This boy was _big_. Tall, broad-shoulder, and leanly muscled, yet he moved like a stealthy cat for all his size, almost soundless. Blazing blue-green eyes, eyes the color of a sunny bay, barely hidden behind narrow spectacles under messy blond hair glared down at the woman in the door. Large hands plucked the books from Professor Vargas's hand before Arthur could claim them, and, still wordless, he carried them over to the only desk in the large, sunny room.

"Thank you, Berry~ You're so sweet. Both of you, really," Vargas added with a sweet smile also in Arthur's direction. "Ah, I see new students! How lovely~ Ve~"

Jae-Soo blinked. She felt a strange sense of déjà vu… Where had she heard that sound before?

While Jae-Soo would have preferred the Military History class, the next fifty minutes were peaceful and rather enjoyable. She hadn't picked up her violin in weeks and it was nice to play with President Kirkland, Kiku and the tall boy called Berwald. Hsiao Mei was on viola, and was the only viola, so she joined them shortly after practice began. Roderich accompanied them on the piano and the little blonde girl from her class, whom she finally learned was named Lily, played bass very well for her diminutive size. Professor Vargas snatched up a cello to play with another girl with a French accent, named Jacqueline, and they spent the whole class playing everybody's favorite songs.

They all went to lunch, talking like old friends and feeling refreshed and ready for the rest of the hellacious day.

"I'm so glad your mom convinced you to join Orchestra, Jae-Soo! It was so fun! Don't you feel like best friends with everybody already?" Hsiao Mei asked, stretching her arms high over her head.

"I was pleased to know everybody's name for once. No one employed any disruptive behavior, either," Jae-Soo admitted as the group neared the cafeteria.

"Would you two like to join me for lunch?" Arthur asked with a slight blush on his face. "I don't normally eat in the cafeteria, but I wouldn't mind-"

"MO! Sue!" Alfred's joyful voice boomed through the hallway, making most of the rather timid Orchestra class jump a foot high.

"AL!" Hsiao Mei exclaimed happily.

Jae-Soo and Arthur stared as Hsiao Mei raced down the hall, a stupidly happy look on her face and arms outstretched. Coming from the opposite direction was Alfred, his face mirroring Hsiao Mei's and his arms also outstretched. The two glomped each other, making Jae-Soo wince, before the much taller Alfred lifted Hsiao Mei and they snuggled each other like cats.

"I _missed _you, Mo!"

"I miss you too, Al!"

As they dissolved into their messy snugglefest, Matthew came from behind the two and approached Arthur and Jae-Soo.

"How was Orchestra, Jae-Soo?" Matthew asked, ignoring the loud squeals coming from their mutual friends.

"Pleasant. How was Band?"

"It was nice to play with other people," Matthew replied simply. His violet eyes fell on Arthur, puzzled. "I remember you from yesterday," he said slowly. "Jae-Soo isn't in trouble, is she?"

"This is President Kirkland. President Kirkland, this is Matthew Williams," Jae-Soo quickly introduced them. "We have Orchestra together and he was accompanying us to lunch."

Arthur held out his hand and the two quickly shook, smiling at each other politely.

"Nice to meet you informally, Williams. You may call me Arthur. I offered the same to Jae-Soo here, but she still calls me President," Arthur attempted a humble tone, but the wide grin was evidence that he actually enjoyed it.

"Hey~ Sue, aren'tcha gonna hug me, too?" Alfred interrupted as he and Hsiao Mei finally joined them. Hsiao Mei was laughing breathlessly.

"No thank you. Meet Presi-" Jae-Soo cut off as the tall, blue-eyed boy and the shorter, green-eyed boy glared at each other wordlessly. It was first time Jae-Soo had ever seen Alfred _frown_.

"You're the jerk from the school gate yesterday."

"You're the idiot that spilled Coca-Cola all over my clipboard!"

"If you hadn't, like, stepped in front of me without any friggin' warning, I wouldna spilled it!"

"If you had followed procedure and _checked in at the gate_, I wouldn't have stopped you!"

"How was I suppose'ta know about that _procedure_? I'm a firs' year!"

"Maybe if you hadn't been such a bloody idiot and taken your earphones out, you would have heard me call out to you, imbecile!"

Hsiao Mei, Jae-Soo, and Matthew watched the boys volley back and forth until they were almost dizzy. Jae-Soo broke the pattern and turned to Matthew. "Did you perhaps witness this encounter that has infuriated them?"

Matthew shook his head. "I got here early and, after checking in with Arthur, went straight to the dorms. Alfred stopped at a game shop on the way, so I left him there." Jae-Soo nodded in understanding- she probably would have done the same.

"Should we stop them?" Hsiao Mei asked worriedly.

"Nah, Al will remember he's hungry soon enough. Besides, he won't want to miss the _burgers_," Matthew slightly raised his voice as he answered Hsiao Mei. Alfred cut himself off in the middle of a breath and turned.

"There are burgers? Again!" Alfred exclaimed in delighted shock.

"_Moron_, there is always a cheeseburger option for lunch. It is one of the many-" Arthur broke off in a sigh as Alfred rushed towards the cafeteria. "He is a great bloody git, do you realize that?" Arthur asked the other three. Jae-Soo nodded, Matthew kind of shrugged, but Hsiao Mei protested indignantly.

"Let us continue on to lunch," Matthew suggested quickly, hoping to calm Hsiao Mei down. Arthur shook his head.

"I would rather not sit with that idiot. I will see you two tomorrow in Orchestra," Arthur declined with a sneer towards the cafeteria and the American that currently inhabited it.

"You can join us whenever you want to," Matthew offered as Arthur turned away.

"Thanks, perhaps I will. Good bye."

The other three turned to the cafeteria. Hsiao Mei was still fuming angrily at Arthur's earlier words.

"Alfred isn't all that bad!" she burst out as they entered the large room filled with students.

"No, he isn't," Matthew agreed easily. Jae-Soo raised her eyebrow, but kept her skepticism to herself.

The day passed well enough. She _didn't_ eat a hamburger for lunch, instead opting for the fruit and salad bar. Geography was next, and ended up being pretty easy. Jae-Soo had never had problems with directions and could read a geographical map well. She did learn that Africa had real countries in it and there was a tiny country called 'Liechtenstein' in Europe she never knew about before. She also learned that that tiny country hosted the sister university to this high school. Good to know.

Then, it was Ancient History with a strangely accented European (Hsiao Mei couldn't place the accent at all, it was baffling) named Nedakh, though she preferred to be called Professor Kida. Jae-Soo thought it would be the most boring class ever, but Professor Kida ended up making it fun. In other words, she talked about some of the famous wars between the civilizations and planned a whole segment about them later in the year.

PE wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. Their teacher made them do push-ups, sit-ups, and chin-ups for about thirty minutes, and for the last ten, made them run in a very large circle while yelling at them in German. Most of the students grumbled that Coach Wilhelm was a jerk, but, when Kiku fell down, exhausted and red-faced, he was very kind and let him go to the nurse's office with Chun-Yuen. Besides, Jae-Soo did most of these exercises by herself each morning and had been doing them since she was four-years-old in Tae Kwon Do. They had ten minutes to quickly shower and re-dress for the last class.

The last class was Japanese. There were a surprising amount of people in there with her. Including Yong-Soo, her twin, and Alfred. She wished Matthew hadn't chosen French and Hsiao Mei hadn't chosen Portuguese. She couldn't handle being alone with these two. She was more than happy to escape fifty minutes later. Alfred was heading out to the baseball field for tryouts, but who knew what Yong-Soo was-

"SISTER! You've avoided me all day! Didn't you miss me at all?" Yong-Soo exclaimed, jumping on her from behind. He also had taken years of Tae Kwon Do, so he had been able to sneak up on her, curse him. "I've missed you _so much_, da-ze."

"No, I did not."

"Aw, don't lie, da-ze. I know you missed me. Let's eat dinner together, okay? I have to go find YaoYao now, though. I'll find you at dinner, so don't worry, da-ze!" Yong-Soo assured her with an extra squeeze around her torso. She gasped for breath. Then, he blessedly released her and took off down the hallway, whistling.

"I shall not be dining in the cafeteria tonight," Jae-Soo muttered under her breath. Maybe Hsiao Mei would like to cook in the dorms tonight? There was a small communal kitchen for that.

She just hoped the rest of the week would turn out like this one did. She would really have to concentrate to avoid her brother after Japanese class, though. His recent ambush confirmed that.

**A/N: God, I just wanted this chapter over with! The next involves alcohol, kissing monsters, and Lovino! Yay! Also… anyone wanna beta? I asked one person to, but I would prefer if she beta'd my other short series I'm gonna write. Just lemme know in a review. I'm just lazy and am tired of reading one chapter ten times. Xp**

**Also, most of the teachers, and some of the students, are heavily based on the RP I'm in. We're a Gakuen forum, so I just stole some of our NPCs. Xp That's okay, I came up with most of the names because **_**nobody voted for or against them**_**. Other than Ren. Italy (Professor Vargas) who has like, three names, and Coach Wilhelm, whose name's spelling was recommended by Scarlet-chan. Jacqueline is Monaco and played/named by Wind. Cookies for the people who know where I got the Ancient History teacher's name! It's a clue as to which ancient civilization she is, too. ^^ Coach Wilhelm is the only famous historical figure we used as of yet. Joanne d'Arc may make an appearance, though. **


	3. Kissing Monster

_KKA: Yup, it took me forever to start this, but I AM writing it along with my Hetalia Fairy Tales. That one is amazing, so you guys should go read it, too. =w= Hopefully, you few are still reading _this_. ^^; Of course, the Spamano fic is more popular. *pouts* There's gonna be Spamano in this story, too, darn it. Speaking of which, I've been wanting to write this chapter since chapter one! Lovino is finally introduced!_

Intimidation, Fear, and… Love?

Chapter Three

Kissing Monster

It was the wee hours of the morning, with the sun barely up and fog lingering on the ground. It was relatively warm (relative compared to DPRK's early mornings since they were more northern than this region). Jae-Soo was in the middle of her morning jog and enjoying the peace and quiet. A few shops were open, or in the process of, and the smells of baking pastries, eggs, bacon, and coffee were flooding unto the street as she made her way back towards campus. She had spent a few hours on Sunday evening with Hsiao Mei wandering through the town near campus and found the perfect jogging route. Yesterday morning she had gone through it, timed it, and this morning added a street there or skipped a block here, perfecting her course. She really didn't like starting the day without her jog and, later, her simple Tae Kwon Do routine at the school's exercise room. She always felt cranky and sluggish if her morning routine was broken.

One shop opened its doors as a young man in an apron walked out to unlock the chairs that sat around iron tables outside. The smell of coffee and muffins pervaded her senses and her stomach rumbled. She had never had coffee before, but the smell of it was intoxicating. She sniffed appreciatively and moved on, nodding her head mutely when the worker waved at her.

A few moments down the block later, her footsteps slowed and her hair rose on end.

Someone was staring at her _again_. She spun around, muscles tensed and ready to crouch into her attention stance. In front of the coffee shop she had just passed was a ridiculously tall (to her ridiculously short) boy with hair so pale it seemed lavender. He wore a long white scarf and long tan coat that fell to his shins. He was just standing there, watching her. Then, he lifted a hand and waved. She felt goosebumps travel up her limbs and she shivered. Without returning the greeting, she turned back to her route and continued her jog back to school. She ignored the fact that her pace had increased twofold. She wasn't scared of whoever that guy was, but he definitely creeped her out. _Why _had he been staring at her? Twice?

.

She made it back to campus and hurried to the gym where the exercise room was located. It was filled with equipment for the sports team, but there was a cleared area designated for aerobics and the like. She hoped no one else would be there (Yong-Soo specifically; he used to take Tae Kwon Do, too). When she peered around the elliptical machines to the aerobics area, someone was already there. She knew instantly it wasn't her brother, though. This person was much shorter, and he didn't have the Im-hair curl. It took a few moments, but she successfully recognized the tiny, black-haired boy as Kiku and, breathing a sigh of relief, walked forward. Kiku was polite and unassuming, so she wouldn't mind having him near while she trained. He was also very much absorbed with going through his own Kendo routine. Jae-Soo was always more of a gun person (it made more practical sense to shoot your enemy from a distance), though she did like an occasional dagger (if you were going to get that close, it would be better that they saw your face _clearly_ when you killed them- not that she had ever killed anyone. This is all purely hypothetical…). Watching Kiku go through the motions with his shinai, however, Jae-Soo could see the beauty of it. His movements were simple, without flourish, and graceful. He wielded the shinai like it was merely an extension of himself. She waited patiently at the edge of the floor mats, not wanting to ruin his concentration. He ended his routine soon afterwards and turned to her with his usual, neutral face. Dark brown eyes met her own and he bowed slightly. She bowed back and then stepped up onto the mats in her socks.

"It was very well done. I have never observed a Kendo disciple perform before this morning," Jae-Soo said politely as she stretched a little.

"I am sorry you had only me to observe, Im-san. You must one day watch a master of his craft," Kiku replied humbly.

"I enjoyed observing you," Jae-Soo shrugged. Kiku blushed lightly and bowed. "You may refer to me as Jae-Soo, Honda-_oppa_. We have been acquainted for more than a decade."

"Ah, _hai_. I did not wish to take liberties, however, since we have not seen one another in almost as long," Kiku replied. "You may call me Kiku, if you wish."

"Kiku… _san_, is the correct honorific in Japanese?"

"_Hai._ Very good, Jae-Soo-_san_."

The two shared a polite, tiny smile.

"Will you be departing now? I do not mind if you continue training. I am also here to perform a basic exercise routine before classes," Jae-Soo explained. She surprised to find she really _didn't_ mind if he stayed. His presence was so mellow and controlled that she could barely sense his aura or hear his movements.

"I will stay to finish my routine. Thank you," Kiku decided a moment later.

The both spent the next thirty minutes in relative silence, enjoying the quiet and easy rhythms of their exercises. Afterwards, they walked to the dorms together, asking about their different classes and discussing the Martial Arts club. She let him talk her into joining and they parted ways to go shower and ready for class. Maybe making friends wasn't so hard after all? It helped having similar interests, though, not mention a previously established relationship from childhood.

The day went by as easily as the day before, probably even easier. There weren't the stupid shenanigans before homeroom and Jae-Soo managed to avoid her brother's ambush before lunch. Alfred was still really annoying, but she was able to block him out as she discussed Literature homework with Matthew. There was another successful dodge after Japanese, leaving her brother faceplanted on the floor while she made a mad dash to the stairs.

She made a quick turn on the second floor, with the intention of using the smaller staircase to the first floor, and got lost in the mass of third years leaving their last class. Gritting her teeth painfully, she weaved through the crowd as it pushed and shoved her around. She _hated_ crowds. Fingers itched for the cool steel of her pistol and her blood surged. Suddenly, a large hand fell on her shoulder. She wrenched open her mouth to snap and almost swallowed her tongue. The tall fair-haired boy from that morning was standing over her, looking over the crowd, smiling pleasant.

"Ah," he breathed and, without a word to her, pulled her through the gap of students to the side of the hallway. He looked down at her then, cheery eyes on her gaping face. "This is better, _da_? You looked so small in there. I thought you might get lost," he told her with a grin.

Jae-Soo's mouth worked uselessly for a moment. She managed to pull her wits together and she bowed. "I thank you," she muttered, wincing as another student bumped her forward.

"What are you doing in this wing? Surely you don't take third year classes?" the boy asked, grabbing her shoulder again and steering towards the smaller staircase, the opposite direction of the human traffic. It was already thinning out, thankfully, and she quickly put distance between them, his hand falling.

"I was avoiding my brother," she answered shortly. A strange look crossed the boy's features and his smile was brittle.

"I understand the wish of avoiding one's sibling. I will help you then, _da_?"

"Da?"

"It means… a question, or yes. It is Russian," the boy decided after a moment's thought. "It is so hard to explain Russian things in English, _da_?" He caught himself and laughed.

Jae-Soo felt the tension leaking from her shoulder. _He is a kind person, I think. His laugh is like Hsiao Mei's. _"My name is Im, Jae-Soo," she told him suddenly. She bowed quickly. "I thank you again for your help."

"It is nothing. I am Ivan Braginski," he introduced himself, smiling brightly. Jae-Soo frowned. "Call me Ivan."

"Ipan? I…_v_an," Jae-Soo muttered under her breath. For such a short name, it was still hard to say. V was not a Korean sound.

"Yes! You have it!" Ivan laughed once more.

Jae-Soo's eyes narrowed as a thought occurred to her. "_Why_ have you assisted me? In fact, why have you been following me?"

Ivan blinked at her. "I followed you? You're in _my_ hallway."

She frowned at that. "I did not refer to the situation just now. I was referring to yesterday morning when you were staring at me down the hallway. This morning, as well, you were at the coffee shop while I was jogging."

"You think too highly of yourself. I did not follow you this morning. I do not sleep well and wake early. I usually go walking and that coffee shop is near the school. I went there for breakfast and coffee, which is what the coffee shop is _for_, _da_? As for yesterday, I do not understand. I heard a very loud, annoying American yelling and saw him run up the stairs. I did not see you," Ivan replied, his cheery voice tight.

Jae-Soo stared up at him, dawning comprehension on her face. She glanced away, embarrassed. "I apologize. I happened to be near that American and believed you were staring at me, thus, when I caught sight of you this morning, I assumed the worst."

"It is nothing. I accept your apology," Ivan said with a strange sort of smile on his face that Jae-Soo missed. He opened the door to the stairwell. "Where do you go now?"

"Oh, I-uh…" she broke off, flustered. _Where am I going?_ "I am going to the l-library. I have assignments to complete before dinner."

"How nice! I go there now, too! I will walk you and we can study together, _da_?"

"We attend separate classes," Jae-Soo demurred woodenly, confused by his offer.

"That is true, but I have taken _your_ classes already. I do not need help for mine. Do you not want the company?" he asked, a dark shade covering his face as he grinned. Jae-Soo frowned lightly, considering. She didn't seem to notice how _not-cheerful_ his face was.

"I do not see the benefit to you, but I do not mind your company," she replied slowly. Ivan's shadow fell, his eyes widening. "I would be pleased if you would join me. Are we friends?" she asked abruptly, shoulders tensing.

Ivan jolted, eyes blinking rapidly as she frowned up at him in confusion. "Y-Yes. We can be friends," he said in a soft sort of voice. Jae-Soo wondered why he looked so amazed, but shrugged, relaxing now that the uncomfortable moment had passed.

"We should depart, Ipa- I_van_-_oppa_," she suggested, walking through the door he held for her. She used a common Korean honorific girls used for older boys, or older brothers. It was one thing using a first name, and it was other using it without any sort of honorific. "I have a large amount of work to be done."

.

Later that afternoon, Jae-Soo invited Ivan to her table for dinner as they put away their books. He had been really kind the entire time. Whenever she grumbled under her breath, he would look over her shoulder and patiently explain to her whatever it was she was confused on. Usually he chuckled at her rather condescendingly as he did it, but she ignored it. It was better than him making fun of her for being a "bad Asian." She hated remarks like that. He also recommended several Russian novels, translated to English, when he saw her fascination with his military history book. She was surprised when he declined her offer.

"There is someone I do not wish to see, so I rarely eat in the cafeteria. Maybe one night you'll accompany me to dinner off campus?"

"Perhaps," Jae-Soo had answered, not truly believing she would. She doubted he would actually extend the offer again later. She wasn't the best conversation partner, he would figure out soon enough. It had been pleasant, though.

She entered the cafeteria, sighing softly. She was actually _regretting_ Ivan's denial. Ivan had been interested in some of the same things she liked, such as military history and politics. They'd had a great discussion over the ancient Hittite Empire in comparison to Babylon and he had not only clarified the differences, but had gotten her interested in them. Her shoulders went up as a loud voice called out directly behind her.

"_SISTER! You're breasts are mine, da-ze!_"

Her eyes widened, horrified, as arms went around her shoulders, hands reaching for her chest. With a wordless yell, she bent over and tossed Yong-Soo across the room, sending him careening into the nearest table. Her Judo wasn't as good as her Tae Kwon Do, but it worked in a pinch. She stood, panting and red-faced, hands clenched into fists.

"You do not touch me!" Jae-Soo snapped angrily.

As Yong-Soo moaned and got to his feet, a few other students snickering and staring in their direction, Jae-Soo blinked, her shoulders relaxing in gradual astonishment as the most amazing revelation hit her; she hadn't brushed Ivan's hand off earlier that day. In fact, she had barely taken notice of Ivan's large hand on her shoulder, even though he had effectively dragged her around the corridor. She shook her head briskly. Obviously, the surprise of seeing him _again_ had distorted her perception. She had been busy scrambling for words, as well, in the beginning of their acquaintance.

"Jae-Soo, are you all right?" Hsiao Mei exclaimed, rushing towards her in concern. Jae-Soo's eyebrows rose.

"I was not the one just thrown into a table. I believe it is my brother who requires such attention," Jae-Soo pointed out wryly. Hsiao Mei's lips twitched.

"I think Chun-Yuen has it under control," she replied, giggling. "I'll go and help _gege_, just in case." Hsiao Mei hurried over to where Chun-Yuen was getting Yong-Soo to a sitting position.

Jae-Soo went to get dinner. Her brother's pain meant nothing. Really. He shouldn't be jumping on her from behind and trying to grab her chest, anyway. She glanced over her shoulder, frowning. Seeing him laughing made her eyes roll and she continued on. It would take more than a table to break her brother.

.

Jae-Soo was reading _War and Peace_ that Friday night, frowning over the harder vocabulary every now and then, when a knock sounded on the door. The week had ended rather uneventfully. She dodged her brother, or tossed him into tables/walls. Ivan-_oppa _had helped her with many of her assignments before dinner, though he never did renew his offer to have dinner off campus. She and Hsiao Mei practiced for Orchestra together after dinner, sometimes Matthew and Alfred joining them with their own instruments. Lastly, Alfred was slowly growing on Jae-Soo. She would never like the obnoxious American, but at least she didn't actively hate him anymore. She glanced towards Hsiao Mei with eyebrows raised. The Taiwanese girl had been typing the latest Literature assignment and looked just as confused as Jae-Soo. It was nearly ten-o-clock at night and lights-out was only an hour away. Hsiao Mei saved the document quickly as the knock sounded again. The door opened to reveal Arthur, looking a little awkward.

"Arthur?" Hsiao Mei gasped as Jae-Soo gaped at him, frozen in shock.

"This is highly unorthodox, I know. Technically, I _do_ have authority to be in this building, however, which is why I was sent," Arthur stated rapidly, blushing slightly.

"You were sent?" Hsiao Mei repeated, baffled.

"Have Hsiao Mei or myself broken some rule?" Jae-Soo asked, finally unlocking her tongue.

"Oh, no! Nothing like that, Jae-Soo. It's… well, it's this." He thrust a piece of paper in Hsiao Mei's hand. "You've been invited. Say nothing." With that, he left quickly.

Hsiao Mei stared at the note, slowly closing the door. Jae-Soo got to her feet, frowning.

"What is it?"

"An invitation," Hsiao Mei answered in shock.

"Yes, I deduced that from the President, but to what event? Why could it not wait until tomorrow?"

"Because we would miss it. The party. Jae-Soo, we've been invited to a _party!_" Hsiao Mei shrieked, her shock cracking into giddiness. "This is, like, an older student party! We're just first years and we've been invited to the _upper classmen's_ party! Arthur must like us!" Hsiao Mei bounced on the balls of her feet, squealing.

Jae-Soo stared at her, completely unimpressed. "Is that all?"

"_Is that all?_ Jae-soo, you really don't know anything about high school life, do you?" Hsiao exclaimed, eyes wide with shock. Jae-Soo shrugged.

"If it is a party, then I am going to bed," she grumbled putting a bookmark in her discarded book with a frown of distaste.

"Oh, no! You _must_ come with me, Jae-Soo! I couldn't go alone! We'll probably be some of the only first years there. I _need_ you to come with me, please?" Hsiao Mei begged. Jae-Soo gazed at her sternly, but Hsiao Mei's brown eyes only widened and grew misty, reminding Jae-Soo of a dog. Jae-Soo had a weakness for dogs.

"Fine! As you wish, Hsiao Mei! However, I will not be staying late," she tacked on angrily.

"Oh _thank you!_ Now, let's change into something cute!" Hsiao Mei sang happily.

"Excuse me?" Jae-Soo choked out.

.

Jae-Soo had managed to convince Hsiao Mei not to dress her up. There was only so far Jae-Soo would allow herself to be pushed. She did, however, change from her uniform into one of her long, brand-new skirts, dark brown in color, and yet another long-sleeved, white blouse. Hsiao Mei had shuddered at the brown loafers Jae-Soo had slipped into, but bit her lip. Hsiao Mei had completely changed into a bright yellow sundress and white, strappy sandals. Even her flower ornament was changed to bright yellow chrysanthemums. The Taiwanese girl was still rather bouncy as they snuck their way into the boy's dorm.

"This is illegal and irresponsible. We should return to our dormitory _now_," Jae-Soo muttered as they made their way to the room on the invitation.

"Don't be such a wet blanket and have a little fun," Hsiao Mei hissed back, breaking into stifled giggles. She glanced at the note, then knocked on a door three times, waited, then knocked four times. A tall, pale-skinned, red-eyed, silver-haired boy swung open the door abruptly.

"Hey! The freshmeat the Brit ordered finally showed up!" the clearly albino teen cackled. His ruby eyes narrowed on Jae-Soo's frowning face. "Didn't you kick me in the face a couple days ago?"

"Did you not deserve it?" Jae-Soo retorted brushing past him. The sooner Hsiao Mei got in, the sooner she could convince her _back out_.

"I'm sorry, she's a little upset right now. I'm Mosa, Hsiao Mei. Call me MeiMei!" she quickly put in as cheerfully as possible.

"Nice ta meetcha, MeiMei. I'm the Awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt," the boy introduced proudly, closing the door behind the two girls.

"Is that not the vice-principal's surname?" Jae-Soo queried, her frown deepening. Gilbert grinned.

"Yup! That's my grandpops!"

Jae-Soo felt astonishment fill her. Not only was he blatantly disregarding school rules, _he was blatantly disregarding his own grandfather's honor_. She wasn't sure she would like this boy at all. First, he flies around and almost mows innocent bystanders down and now he's an incorrigible rule breaker.

"Come and have a drink," Gilbert offered, herding both the girls towards on the beds. Jae-Soo finally got a good look at the place.

The dorm was just like hers and Hsiao Mei's. A large room with two single beds and closets built into the walls. A large desk was set between the heads of the beds, with a partition in the middle to make one desk into two. Both the desk tops were rather messy. One bed had a large stuffed tomato on it. Odd. Most of the room, though, was covered with people. A girl with long brown hair was perched on the desk, obviously in control of the drinks surrounding her. In one of the desk chairs sat another first year, Ludwig Beilschmidt, if Jae-Soo remembered correctly, looking a little uncomfortable and out-of-place. At his feet sat another first-year, that clumsy boy who almost fell out the window… Feli-something? Two boys were sitting on the tomato bed, boys Jae-Soo recognized as Gilbert's friends from the other day. Arthur was sitting on the floor, rather flushed. He waved cheerfully as Hsiao Mei and Jae-Soo walked in. Hsiao Mei instantly went and perched next to him, sitting on her knees. Gilbert climbed onto the bed behind Hsiao Mei and began chatting with his two friends, the blond immediately handing over a bright green bottle. Another boy was laid out in middle of the floor, hands behind his head, looking rather like he was asleep, while a much taller guy laughed with the girl with the drinks and flicked the sleeping boy's nose. On the remaining desk chair, Jae-Soo recognized Wang Yao. He was laughing easily and hadn't noticed her or Hsiao Mei yet, too busy joking with the tall guy and the girl. On the other bed was a scowling boy that looked a lot like the Feli-something boy. Deciding she would rather _not _deal with Wang Yao, she perched on the bed with the scowling boy and leaned back so he was hiding her.

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing?" he snapped. Jae-Soo glared at him.

"I am sitting down. There are not exactly an infinite amount of seats-"

"HEY! THE PARTY HAS ARRIVED!" interrupted a stupidly loud voice that made Jae-Soo and the scowling boy next to her cringe.

In the doorway was a large, blond, and blue-eyed boy holding huge bottles of vodka. Behind him, an equally tall blond boy with glasses and a slighter, smaller boy with even paler blond hair frowned. The bespectacled boy covered his face with his large hand and sighed before pushing the loud idiot further into the room. The smaller boy, with a large golden cross in his hair, snapped the door closed behind him. Gilbert and the idiot seemed to know each other well and were soon so loud, Jae-Soo wondered why the hall monitors didn't come in and stop them. Then… she realized something rather obvious. Arthur was in charge of hall monitor duties as the school president. Obviously, he would make sure none of his subordinates told the professors.

"This is a travesty," Jae-Soo muttered.

"I'll say. There isn't even decent wine and the people are all fucking stupid," the boy next to her agreed. They glanced at each other. "Vargas. Lovino Vargas."

"Im, Jae-Soo. Call me Jae-Soo."

"If you call me 'Mr. Vargas,' I'll bitch-slap you."

"Lovino-_oppa_."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

Jae-Soo shook her head and a tiny smirk curled up one side of her mouth. "It is Korean. It is hard to explain," she answered, too uncaring to actually try to explain. Lovino shrugged.

"I'm a second year. I'm surprised you and your friend were invited. The only reason Ludwig got invited is because he's that potato bastard's little brother," he said jerking his head towards Gilbert, who was now singing some German song with the tall blond idiot with the vodka. "And Feliciano, my little brother, well, everyone loves that dumbass." His mouth twisted to the side as he spoke. Jae-Soo nodded. She had noticed that, while most couldn't help but consider the boy a complete idiot, no one had a bad thing to say about him. Even their teachers were more lenient on him.

"I do not know anyone here. Perhaps you can teach me all the names?"

"Hell, really? All right," Lovino rolled his eyes, but gave in rather easily. He pointed out a few people and gave her some general advice for dealing with them, when Gilbert leapt over to them.

"What are you two party poopers doin', huh? Why don't you have a drink or something?"

"What if I don't fucking _want_ one, you potato-eating ass," Lovino snarled. Gilbert only laughed.

"Ah, c'mon, Erzsi brought her _polenka_. Everyone loves _polenka_!"

Lovino's eyes widened. "Oh, shit."

"Po…Poelainka?" Jae-Soo repeated in confusion as Gilbert came back with a large bottle full of transparent liquid. "It has the same appearance as vodka."

"Oh, this stuff ain't vodka. Give it a try, Kicker-Girl," Gilbert grinned, pushing the bottle into her hands. She looked at his empty hands, wondering where the cup was. "Just outta the bottle, bottoms up, girlie."

She gaped at him, but he only grinned at her. She glanced at Lovino, who was grimacing.

"You might as well take a sip to shut the bastard up. He gives that shit to everyone on their first day. It's apricot brandy from Hungary."

"Apricot brandy? I enjoy the taste of apricots," Jae-Soo murmured, eyeing the bottle with appreciation. Surely, apricot brandy won't be that bad. Apricots are delicious and eating them didn't make one drunk. One couldn't possibly make a strong liquor out of that, right? She twisted off the cap and took a quick chug. She immediately choked, tears springing to her eyes, and it took all her strength to swallow the mouthful. She suddenly felt light-headed and overly warm.

"Kesesese~ I bet you weren't expecting that, huh?" Gilbert chortled.

"It is… delicious, but it _burns_," she rasped. Lovino snagged the bottle and took a chug. He gasped and then handed it over.

"We both had some, now leave us the hell alone!" the Italian snapped.

"No way. You heard her, she likes it. It tastes better the second time," Gilbert nudged the bottle back to Jae-Soo, who was curiously licking her lips. She had never had alcohol before, but that _polenka_ left such a pleasant buzz in her head and in her mouth. Maybe just one more? She took the bottle and swung back another gulp, gasping afterwards.

"Shit, you bastard! You're gonna get her drunk. Don't listen to that bastard, give it back," Lovino urged trying to tug the bottle away.

"Aw, is little Lovi scared of being dwunk?" Gilbert teased. "Hey, Tonio, FranFran, I think we need to play a game! Widdle Lovi is scared of getting' dwunk!"

"I AM NOT!" Lovino bellowed, kicking Gilbert in the stomach.

The rest of the room burst out laughing as Gilbert fell back on his ass, right on Hsiao Mei's lap. Hsiao Mei was nursing a cup of punch and rum, which Arthur had given her, but didn't really drink very much. She didn't really like the taste of alcohol, but the punch was rather good. It was only her quick reflexes that saved the rum punch from being spilled all over her bright yellow dress _and _Gilbert. Everyone ended up gathering in a large, dysfunctional circle with a whole deck of cards arranged around a large plastic cup full of straight vodka. Jae-Soo didn't get most the rules, and her perception was getting rather foggy, so she just did what Lovino told her to do. By the time most of the cards were gone, though, both Lovino and Jae-Soo were wobbling. Antonio, Francis, and Gilbert had all ganged up Lovino, making him drink as often as possible. About halfway through, Jae-Soo completely lost her head and drank whenever Lovino did straight out of the polenka bottle, the only alcohol she would touch.

"KING'S CUP! The Swede's got it! Chug, chug, chug!" cheered most the boys and Erzsi as Berwald pulled the last king.

Jae-Soo stared as the tall blond easily knocked back the entire cup without flinching, making everyone laugh loudly. She laughed along, confused by it all, but everyone else was laughing, so it must be funny. Even Lovino was laughing, leaning hard on her right shoulder. They both tottered, tipping over until Herakles, the once-sleeping boy, caught Jae-Soo and held her up. Both of them continued to laugh uncontrollably.

"I think the poor girl has had enough. GILBERT! WHY THE HELL DID YOU LET HER DRINK ALL THAT?" Elizabeta screeched, snatching the half-empty bottle and sloshing it in Gilbert's face. His drink-flushed face paled at her wrath.

"Gee, I'm sorry, Erzsi. I had no idea she was still drinking from that still, I swear," Gilbert replied in a cajoling tone. It didn't stop the bottle from smacking against his head.

"YOU IDIOT! She looks twelve and you _just gave her the entire bottle of polenka! This stuff can knock out a horse!_"

"I'mmakay!" Jae-Soo called out, almost falling into Gilbert lap to get to him. "I polayka liked. I you thank!" she cheerfully informed the albino as he rubbed his temple. He grinned and held her by her shoulders.

"See, she don't mind, Erzsi!"

"Nope!" Jae-Soo agreed, shaking her head dazedly.

"Only because she's too drunk to care, you idiot," Elizabeta seethed at him. "Look at her!"

"She looks a lot happier than she did before!" Gilbert retorted defensively.

"'M verra happy!" To prove her point, she grabbed Gilbert's face with her hands and locked lips in a brief, lopsided kiss. "You thanks, _oppa_."

Gilbert stared at her, eyes wide and blushing wildly. "D-Don't thank m-me. It was Erzsi who b-brought it."

"Oh, right you are! Erzzi!" she stumbled to her feet, grabbed the stunned girl by the face, like she had done Gilbert, and kissed her firmly as well. "Thanks you!"

"Buh-buh-whut?" Elizabeta stammered, baffled.

"An' fer MeiMei! MeiMei, thanks for you!" Jae-Soo cried out, falling to her knees and throwing herself on the startled Taiwanese girl. A messy kiss immediately followed.

"_Mon Dieu_, she's a kissing monster!" Francis crowed, laughing until tears streamed from his eyes. Antonio was doubled up next to him, laughing just as hard and holding his stomach.

"Who next?" Gilbert called out, finally recovering from his shock.

"Oh, come on, you can't just pass her around!" Wang Yao snapped, trying to get to his feet and falling back onto his chair woozily.

"Yao's turn!" the three best friends cried out.

"Wang Yao? I him know!" Jae-Soo told them as Gilbert pulled her up.

Somehow they managed to get her through the whole room, giving a kiss to each person. Sometimes she would ask why, and they would come up with some stupid reason, which she would consider drunkenly and then agree. Only a clever, well-placed notebook kept her from Lukas's kiss, but he was the only one that escaped. In fact, Mathias kept coming back for seconds and then guffawing afterwards. It took the combined efforts of Elizabeta and Hsiao Mei, along with the tottering, red-faced Lovino, to get Jae-Soo out of the crowd of laughing drunk boys and to the door.

"Get her out of here!" Elizabeta gasped, trying not to laugh or break something.

"We're in A7," Hsaio Mei told Lovino breathlessly. He nodded, hitched Jae-Soo's arm over his shoulder, and stumbled out of the door. Jae-Soo waved cheerfully as the door slammed shut.

"I hope they break those assholes' faces," Lovino muttered, blushing after the very recent kiss from his drunk baggage.

"I no want them to breaks their faces. They all so nice, _da_? Haha! It's a Russian thing!" she chirped and then hiccupped. The abrupt motion of her shoulders caused them both to wobble dangerously, and they both laughed out loud.

"Stop fucking moving, stupid!" Lovino gasped out moments later.

"I not stop hiccups! I can help it!" she breathlessly protested. At that, she hiccupped again, the sound reverberating off the walls. They stumbled forward and barely managed to catch themselves.

"You are _never_ going to a damn party again, hear me?" Lovino snarled.

"But so fun! I never smile, but look, smile!" she grinned widely to prove it.

"Ah, shut up!"

Hiccup!

"SHIT!"

"You two need help, _da_?" Ivan said quietly as he gripped Jae-Soo's elbow and hauled her to feet, bring Lovino up with her. Lovino's light amber eyes widened.

"N-No! We g-got it!"

"Ipan-_oppa_! I should invite you tonight! I did not, so sorry, Ipan-_oppa_."

"Is that… _polenka_ she's been drinking?" Ivan demanded, glaring down at Lovino, who shuddered and looked away, scowling.

"'S not like _I _made her. We all forgot to take it from her," Lovino mumbled.

"I will help you to her dorm," Ivan stated calmly.

In the end, Lovino ended up being glad for the help. While his speech wasn't too affected, his motor skills definitely were. They barely managed to make it to the dorm room, and after several ineffectual tries that ended with the keys on the floor, and Jae-Soo shortly following, Ivan unlocked the door himself. Lovino tumbled in and passed out on the bed without even caring anymore. His grandfather was principal, anyway, and think it was great joke that his eldest grandson ended up in the girls' dorm. Ivan hefted Jae-Soo up in to his arms, shaking his head, smiling a bit. Little girls like Jae-Soo should not drink, definitely not.

Jae-Soo stirred and blinked up at him, brown eyes hazy. She smiled brightly when she managed to recognize him. "You gonna have dinner with me, Ipan-_oppa_?"

"_Da_, I am. Right after you take a nap," he agreed easily, knowing not to argue with someone obviously not quite "awake."

"So happy. Never made a friend before," Jae-Soo murmured. "I thank you." She reached up, cupping his face with both her hands and kissed him softly, really too tired to put much energy behind it.

The tall Russian froze, arms locking automatically to keep from dropping her. She pulled away, blinked up at him dazedly, and then smiled. Suddenly, she was dead-weight, passed out against his chest. Unseen, Ivan shook his head and slowly placed her on the bed. Carefully, he pulled the blanket over both Jae-Soo and Lovino, sighing softly.

"I never made a friend before, either. I thank you," he murmured, patting her head awkwardly. He left the key on her desk and slipped silently from the room.

.

_Hmmm, not sure I like this. Eh. At least I'm finally updating this old thing, lulz._


	4. Coffee with Snow

_Kitty: Hmmm, what should I write next? I should probably get to work on that romance part, ne? XD For spida-dwag, for wanting an update so much! I'm so glad you like my OC. It validates her existence, ne? Oh goodness, the fluff in this chapter makes my teeth hurt. I hope to work more on Ivan's characterization next chapter. I do hope he's IC enough. Please keep in mind he is NOT RUSSIA in this, merely a teenage Russian boy… not to say he doesn't have those twists and faults of character we all know and love. XD;;_

Intimidation, Fear, and… Love?

Chapter Four

Coffee with Snow

Jae-Soo woke up the next morning groaning. She curled inward, as if to hide in herself. Why did her head pound so badly? And why did her mouth taste so gross? She froze as a body shifted _right next to her_. Her eyes popped open, making her wince, but she kept her bleary eyes focused. She blinked, stunned. Lovino was sleeping in front of her, his dark hair a wild mess around his scowling face. It was kind of endearing the way the Italian scowled even while he slept.

Jae-Soo, however, didn't realize how endearing this was. No. She was horrified. _There was a young man laying her bed!_

She sat up quickly, only to grasp her head in her hands as the world tilted and swayed alarmingly. Everything was suddenly blurry and her stomach was heaving. In her hazy peripheral vision, she saw a movement from Lovino towards her. With a loud cry, she pulled away, flailed as her precarious balance overset, and fell backwards with a loud thud.

"Whoa! What the hell was that?" Lovino cursed as he jumped up. He immediately moaned and flopped back on the bed. "Fuck this…"

"Jae-Soo!" Hsiao Mei exclaimed, throwing her covers off and kneeling beside her roommate. "Are you all right?"

"Wh-What happened?" Jae-Soo mumbled as she sat up. Her body jerked as she gagged, then she forced the reflex down. She glared up at Hsiao Mei through bloodshot eyes. "Why are you so animated after the exuberances of last night that exhausted both Lovino and me?"

Hsiao Mei giggled and helped Jae-Soo to her feet. "I didn't drink more than half a bottle of Hungarian apricot wine. As to "what happened", you drank half a bottle of Hungarian apricot wine and you now have a hangover."

"A… hangover? I do not know this word," Jae-Soo muttered, sitting on her bed and lowering her head between her knees as the urge to vomit came back. "I do not like this," she added in a voice muffled by her thighs.

"I don't think we should tell her what _else_ she did," Lovino mumbled, a smirk tugging at his lips as his bloodshot red eyes looked over at them from the pillow. Hsiao Mei pressed her mouth into a tight line, though her shoulders quivered.

"If most of the third year student body, including the student president, knows what happened, then I demand you explain at _once_ to what it is you are referring," Jae-Soo gritted past her clenched teeth.

"Well…" Hsiao Mei trailed off and handed Jae-Soo a water bottle from their mini-fridge that Hsiao Mei always kept stocked with sweets and sports drinks. Jae-Soo grasped it and took a quick gulp.

"If you're going to be a fucking sissy about it, I'll tell her. Look, Jae-Soo, right?" Lovino said irritably, snagging the bottle from her hand. She nodded as he swung back a gulp of water. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and returned it. "When you get wasted-which means _drunk off your ass_- you kiss _everybody_."

Jae-Soo stared at him. Her grip tightened on the bottle, but she ignored the loud crackling and surge of water over her knuckles and onto the floor. Lovino and Hsiao Mei winced.

"Repeat that," Jae-Soo slowly hissed in a low, hoarse voice.

"You kissed everyone in the room, Jae-Soo. Oh, except for Lukas-san! He blocked your face with a notebook!" Hsiao Mei remembered in a falsely bright voice.

Water exploded everywhere. Jae-Soo's face twitched on one side, and she tried in vain to bring the night's episode to mind. Surely she would remember this! _She'd never kissed anyone before! Her first kiss was gone! That was supposed to be important- special- sacred even, and she couldn't remember any of them!_ But… even as she searched through her foggy brain for _anything_, a dim memory began to surface. The smell of vodka (a smell she never could have identified before last night) and flowers. What kind of flowers? She had no idea, but it was familiar…

She gasped aloud and spun around to face Lovino. "Was Ipan- Ivan-_oppa_ present last night?" Jae-Soo demanded. Lovino had flinched at her sudden movement and then stared at her.

"Wait, you _do_ know Braginski? How could you remember that?" Lovino retorted, just as aghast as she, though for a different reason. Jae-Soo was _mortified_.

"We have been study partners in the library this past week. He was _not_ present at the party that I recall, correct? I did not oscillate- Oh… dear Motherland… _no_," Jae-Soo breathed, her face paling considerably.

"Bra-Braginski? There wasn't a Braginski at the party…" Hsiao Mei murmured in confusion.

"He's a third year that we met in the hallway on the way here. He helped us to the room. Jae-Soo, uh… what's wrong?"

"After we began that strange game involving cards, I cannot recall anything of the party. However… Ivan-_oppa_… I remember him holding me like a child. Then, I was thanking him for being my friend and… _of every kiss last night, why do I remember that one?_ How can I ever meet his eyes?" Jae-Soo moaned, huddling into a fetal position on her bed and wrapping her arms over her head. "I _loathe_ alcohol. I will never _ever_ drink alcoholic beverages again!"

"Well, good, because I don't ever want a sloppy kiss from you ever again. Thank God it wasn't my first, or I'd have to fucking kill you," Lovino muttered darkly. He ran his hand through his hair. "You got anything other than water?"

Jae-Soo groaned again as Hsiao Mei went to dig out a sports drink.

.

The day after the party, it had begun the weekend and she mostly hid in her dorm, nursing water bottles and finishing homework assignments. Whenever that single kiss popped into her head, she would beat her head on her pillow until it went away. She _had_ beaten her head on the wall, but Hsiao Mei had panicked and their neighbor had come over to politely request Jae-Soo _stop it_. The tall, pale-haired Belarusian with violet eyes was not one to ignore and Jae-Soo acceded graciously enough.

By Monday, she had mostly beaten the disturbing image from her mind. She went through the day, anxiety increasing. It didn't help that a few older students waved and cheered at her as she walked past- one incredibly annoying blond kept blowing her kisses. She shrunk behind the much taller Alfred and Matt whenever they walked the halls between classes and lunch was torturous. One shining consequence of the whole fiasco was Lovino joining them within moments of lunch starting. With Lovino's caustic insults and Alfred's oblivious need to commandeer every conversation, Jae-Soo managed to escape most of the upper classmen that came over to tease her. When classes ended, she zipped through the corridors, hoping and dreading that Ivan would be at the library. She needed to apologize, or have him pretend it never happened. Yes, that would be best.

He hadn't been there. She sat at their usual table, tapping her mechanical pencil and foot in increasing tempo, jolting in shock when Alfred's brash voice invaded the library's silent confines. She barely managed to comprehend his low exclamation over the sheer number of shelves, let alone books, that filled the large room, when Lovino and Hsiao Mei appeared from one of the aisles, closely followed by Alfred and Matt.

"Jae-Soo, why the hell did you leave me with this fucking idiot? I was waiting for you at the football field after practice and then _this_ bastard pops up with Mei and tells me you always come here," Lovino complained loudly as he flopped into the chair next to her. Hsiao Mei quickly took the other one and Matt and Alfred sat across from them. Jae-Soo twitched irritably when Alfred sat in Ivan's seat.

"It's _soccer_, dude, and where's that commi? Doncha usually study with him?" Alfred asked, smacking on gum as he leaned back on his chair's legs.

Hsiao Mei and Lovino exchanged a glance over Jae-Soo's head.

"He did not arrive today. He must have been otherwise occupied," Jae-Soo seethed through gritted teeth. Alfred shrugged.

"So, get anything done?" Alfred inquired, dropping his backpack on the table.

"If you don't mind us joining you in his stead, Jae-Soo," Matt quickly put in. Jae-Soo hesitated, glanced around, and then let her shoulders fall.

"No, I do not mind. It is better to study with classmates in any case. Do you mind studying with us, Lovino-_oppa_?" Jae-Soo turned to him, blinking at the annoyed huff he made.

"I don't know what this oppa shit is. Just Lovino," he snapped.

"…"

"Lovino, Jae-Soo was raised in a very traditional home in North Korea. It is very strange for a young girl to address a young man she barely knows, an older classmate especially, without due respect. Using just your birth name is… _awkward_ for most Easterners," Hsiao Mei hurriedly explained.

"_You_ don't have a problem with it," Lovino pointed out.

"She even calls me Al!"

"Shut up."

"Hey!"

"I was raised differently!" Hsiao Mei interrupted, sweating slightly. Lovino turned back to her. "My father moved a lot. I lived in Japan for a long time, some years in China, a whole summer in America, a couple years of travelling Europe, I learned the Western way of greeting and informality because of that. Jae-Soo… well…"

"Once in DPRK, one does not _leave_ DPRK," Jae-Soo muttered.

"How are you here, then, Jae-Soo?" Matt asked curiously. Jae-Soo glanced away, frowning darkly.

"Less than savory family connections," Jae-Soo admitted as obliquely as possible. Lovino rolled his eyes.

"Shit, don't I know that. The Vargas name isn't exactly squeaky clean. We cut most those ties, but…" he smirked. "Once in, one does not _leave_."

Jae-Soo met his amber gaze and they both smiled a mirrored, tiny, wry smirk that spoke more than their vague words. She sighed, breaking her gaze from him as she closed her eyes in resignation. She re-opened her eyes and turned to the table and her work. "I will acquiesce to your request, Lovino. We might as well get something done now."

"Hey, what about me? You gonna call me Al now?" Alfred exclaimed, leaning over the table.

"Shut up, Jones." Lovino burst out laughing as Alfred pouted.

"Awwww."

Jae-Soo spent the next couple months confused. Several layers of confused, really. She had managed to make yet another friend on her own, but lost another. She had no idea why he was avoiding her. He had been so kind that night, surely he knew she couldn't be held accountable for her actions in that inebriated state. Maybe he took it as some drunken love confession and was trying to reject her politely? Jae-Soo had no idea, but she didn't like being confused or having questions unanswered. She even went out of her way during her morning jogs to slow down at the coffee shop where he liked to eat breakfast, but never saw him there. She studied with her strange, eclectic group, sometimes joined by Ludwig and _Feliciano_, that was it, and Kiku, too. Hsiao Mei and Kiku often devolved into conversations in rapid Japanese, but he was really there with Ludwig and Feliciano, his two closest friends whom he met in the newspaper club.

Jae-Soo kept up in Martial Arts club, participating in few meets, and mostly just there to keep her skill fresh. She joined archery, and fencing, too at Lovino's nonchalant offer, never one to turn down weaponry training, but most of her energies were focused in schoolwork. World United had very high standards for their students. Jae-Soo was beyond a lackluster student, she was a _terrible _student. Her grades were only as good as they were because she was so punctual turning in her assignments and, technically, meeting the requirements. Her teachers often complained about her lack of creativity and verve compared to so many other outrageous students. Despite grumbling that maybe they should appreciate a _sane_ student, Jae-Soo struggled to meet this higher, abstract criteria. If it weren't for Hsiao Mei and Lovino, she doubted she would've made it through midterms. If she fell below a certain percentage, her tenuous enrollment would be revoked and DPRK would demand her return, which would shame her entire family and herself. But she made it through midterms a few points above the minimum and chose to remain not only for fall break, but for the upcoming winter break as well.

She hadn't thought she'd like this school. She hadn't thought she'd like these strange classmates and even stranger classes, but she _did_. She actually dreaded the idea of going back to DPRK, for fear they would refuse to let her leave again. Her mother promised to renew her Visa from DPRK and agreed with Jae-Soo's assessment.

So Jae-Soo was at a mostly deserted high school campus for fall break with absolutely nothing to do. Her entire group of friends left to visit family. Alfred was excited about going camping with his family, Matt less so. Camping meant very little toilet paper and less personal space. Hsiao Mei had regaled them all with stories of all the Chinese and Taiwanese food she had missed and would pig out on. Lovino grumbled about enduring his grandfather's patronizing and Feliciano sneaking in his bed, but had said he also missed the food and decent coffee back in Italy. Hsiao Mei had offered Jae-Soo to go with her, but she had turned her down. She would rather have her mother send her off to a friend's house for the much longer winter break instead of waste her money on a week and a half long trip now.

Jae-Soo finished all the assignments assigned over the break by the third day, had all her laundry finished and put away neatly, and all her (few) books arranged alphabetically before she decided she would go _insane_ if she didn't leave the dorm. With the vague intention of searching out a good place to buy groceries to replenish her dwindling supply, she dressed in her jogging gear and went out.

She shivered as she soon as she left the dormitory. Northern UK was bitterly cold, to the point that even in late September the weather forecast warned of snow. She was used to extremes of cold, though, so she shook herself and began her jog. It had been colder when she had jogged that morning anyway.

_I really need a hobby other than martial arts. I have nothing to fill my hours with now that Hsiao Mei, Lovino, and Matt are gone._ Even mentally, she ignored Alfred, though she had gotten much better at using the others' first names without awkwardness. _Much_ awkwardness.

She kept her jog light, really just out to enjoy the brisk air, the motion of her muscles, and being out of her room. She had never liked staying in the house doing nothing. Tea ceremonies and flower arranging and learning to play instruments had always seemed so pointless. And she hated traditional dancing. She made it through about half her circuit, footsteps shuffling to a stop, as the smell of coffee invaded her nose. Though she had given up looking for Ivan-_oppa_ there, she still liked to linger and inhale the smell of it. With the free time she had now… she wondered if it would be all right to indulge her curiosity. With a wry smile and a shake of her head, she turned back to the sidewalk to continue on. It was just too unnecessary and European prices were so much higher than the won she was used to at home. She didn't see the need to waste her funds on something so frivolous.

She paused, eyes widening, as a tall figure stopped in front of her. Ivan's strange purple eyes widened like hers. Gradually, they both blushed, the blood heating beneath their skin. They glanced away and Ivan reached up to adjust his scarf.

"Hello," he muttered. Jae-Soo jumped.

"Um… yes. Hello, Ivan-_oppa_," Jae-Soo replied automatically. She peered up at him, frowning slightly, wondering what she was supposed to do now. She took a breath and stepped forward. "You have not returned to the library."

He started, gazing at her again in surprise. He suddenly began to chuckle. "_Da_, I have not."

"I… I am sorry that you have not. I enjoyed studying with you." The look was hard to read for Jae-Soo. She's never seen someone with stunned happiness before. She tilted her head to side, wondering just why he seemed so at lost for words. "I also owe you an apology and a thank you, Ivan-_oppa_."

He raised one hand, but the other covered his brilliantly red face. "N-no… it was nothing," he assured her, his voice muffled by scarf and gloved-covered hand. Jae-Soo stared at him a bit longer and then shrugged.

"Have you truly been avoiding me? I do not wish to assume after that first time," Jae-Soo inquired directly. He finally looked at her, though his cheeks were still pink.

"I was and now _I'm_ sorry. It was not good of me. I was… confused," Ivan slowly explained. Jae-Soo face lit up crimson in embarrassment. She knew _exactly_ what he was confused about.

"C-Could we not mention that night ever again?" she pleaded in a strained voice. At that, he chuckled once more, broad shoulders shaking.

"Would you like to have coffee with me?" Ivan offered, waving his hand towards the café. Jae-Soo looked down at her jogging pants and long-sleeved red shirt. She hadn't sweat much, thanks to the cold temperature and her lack of exertion, but surely this outfit would be out of place in a restaurant. Then, she looked back up at Ivan's pleasantly smiling face and, little by little, smiled back. Her earlier decision to save her money didn't seem so substantial now that she had someone to share the experience with, someone who _invited_ her to join him, when he had every reason to merely brush her off and continue ignoring her after that horrible night.

"Yes. What would you recommend?" she replied, genuinely delighted. His own smile widened in response.

They left the café minutes later, both nursing steaming paper cups of coffee. She sipped at the bitter brown drink and sighed. It instantly warmed her to the tip of her nose and it tasted amazing. She _liked_ bitter drinks, though the milk he insisted she add gave it a silky, smooth taste. All in all, it was definitely worth the inflated price of pounds sterling she had to hand over. She looked up at Ivan, an easy, relaxed smile on her face, for once unforced.

"This is delicious! Do you drink this every day?"

"At least twice. The milk makes it taste much better, _da_? It even better with sugar. You sure you don't want it?" Ivan asked, holding out some sugar cubes. Jae-Soo wrinkled her nose and he grinned. He held the cube between his teeth and slurped the coffee.

"How can you do that? It is too sweet," Jae-Soo muttered in disgust. "You do not drink tea in that abhorrent manner, do you?"

"I do," Ivan answered, laughing aloud at the utter horror etched on her face.

Jae-Soo blinked, lashes rapidly flickering over big brown eyes. Something was… falling… clinging to her face and lashes and lips. Ivan stopped laughing, head tilted back, as he smiled towards the sky. She lifted her face, too, and that small smile from before returned.

"Snow."

"_Da._"

"It came early," she noted absently, returning to her coffee, loving the warmth that curled in her belly and tickling cold of snowflakes on her exposed skin. This snow was too thin and the weather not quite cold enough for it to stick, but it was pretty as it danced and flurried around them. Soon, though, she began to shiver. "I am clearly underdressed for this weather. I need to return to campus," she admitted with a disappointed frown.

"I will walk with you. We can discuss books again. Did you finish _War and Peace_?" Ivan asked, turning with her companionably. She wondered to herself why she was so pleased. She began to answer and then sneezed.

"Curses, my immunity system must have been weakened during midterms due to stress. I do not enjoy being ill," Jae-Soo growled under her breath. She blinked as a soft weight fell over her shoulders. She looked up as Ivan wrapped the scarf around her neck and tucked in the ends.

"Do not get it dirty. It is special," Ivan warned. Jae-Soo nodded, blushing again as the smell of vodka and flowers, and sugary coffee this time, overwhelmed her. It reminded her so strongly of that hazy memory and the stupid kiss. But she kept her mouth shut and listened to him chat about Tolstoy.

It was nice to walk with him.


	5. What's a Dance?

_Kitty: Hey, y'all. Meant to write this a while ago, but I was working on the next fairy tale for HFT. Orz. The next chapter isn't even up yet and I'm working on the one after that. Poor Beta. Anyway, I want to update this one soon because I wanted to let y'all know about my vlog. Yup, I did it. I wanted to do one anyway when I started *trying* to cosplay, but now I'm doing one for my readers. It's you keep y'all updated on my writing and how it goes. If it gets popular at all, I'll answer questions on there, give out spoilers, and take advice/ideas from readers about upcoming chapters. I may even do some "How to Beta" vids, because being a Beta can be friggin' hilarious. _

_Edit: How did filler get so long? MORE WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! I'm sorry! *creys* I'll update quicker. You'll love/hate the next chapter._

_ www. you tube watch?v= Rdw- aPnCmBQ That's the first one. There are two, now. (Ignore the "interview" vids under that name. That was for my job in Korea. ^^;)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. This story is 'T'- I think? Fluff, a little angst, and zero plot so far. Have fun~_

Intimidation, Fear, and Love

Chapter Five

What's a Dance?

Ivan waved to her as they parted at the dorms. Jae-Soo continued onto her room, holding the scarf over her now quite toasty nose. The sweet and bitter scent made her head swim oddly, but she didn't pull it off. She made it to her room, fumbled with her coffee to dig for her key, and almost _hopped_ through the door once it opened. She felt giddy. Ridiculously so. She didn't even have a clue why, but she stood in the middle of the room breathing in deep the smell and warmth of the scarf, the taste of coffee and milk on her tongue, and was giddy in a very content sort of way.

She finally changed into her red and white _choson-ot. _It was made from heavy linen, so it was much warmer than it appeared. Jae-Soo picked up the scarf from her bed, frowned at it, then folded it neatly and left the room, grabbing her coffee as she went. Ivan was waiting at the entrance outside, still sipping at his cup and exhaling a wreath of foggy breath into the air in front of him. He had leaned back against the building, his free hand shoved into his pocket, his head tilted back to look up at the dark, heavy clouds. The snow had ceased long ago.

"You… you did not wait out here the whole time?" Jae-Soo queried in confusion and concern. Ivan shrugged, looking down at her and smiling that soft smile of his.

"It much colder where I'm from," he informed her lightly.

She frowned at him a bit, but dropped it. It was _his_ decision, after all, but she couldn't help but feel oddly guilty, and still rather confused. She glanced down at the scarf in her hands, wondering at her bewildered conflict of emotions. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she handed the scarf over.

"I had not sweated, really. However, I could wash it before returning it, if you wish," Jae-Soo mumbled.

"_Nyet-_Ah, no. It is fine," Ivan replied easily, taking the scarf and immediately wrapping it back around his neck.

She frowned up at him as he slung one end over his shoulder. He glanced down at her, eyebrow rising.

"You look more like yourself wearing that," Jae-Soo decided aloud. Ivan blinked in surprise and then chuckled.

"Do I look strange without it?" he teased as they began to walk towards the cafeteria.

"I did not mean to imply that," Jae-Soo retorted stiffly. She still found teasing awkward. "What I meant to say is, without it you appear… older… perhaps… No, I cannot explain it well. Forgive me." She waved her hand negligently, making Ivan chuckle again.

They easily fell in step, trudging through the sludge that the thin snowfall had created. It was nice they could be silent and still be comfortable. Hsiao Mei tended to chatter if it got too quiet. Even Lovino always had something to say, though he did sometimes enjoy quiet- especially after having to deal with his brother too long. They made it to the cafeteria soon enough and Ivan led her to a round table where three other boys sat. It took her a moment, but she did recognize them as being first years and in her class. Without that boy who wore the make-up and the girls' uniform, she hadn't been able to place them. Jae-Soo sat down next to the quiet, blond boy about the same height as she and Ivan sat between her and the only other brunette at the table.

"Miss Im, right?" the gentle-faced brunette confirmed.

"Yes," she replied, startled as this Westerner's polite manners. "I never thought to remember to your names. Pardon me."

"Oh, it's no problem. We haven't even exchanged a word in class. My last name, Laurinaitis, is a little difficult for most people, so if you wish, you can just call me Toris. This is Eduard von Bock and the boy next to you is Raivis Galante."

Jae-Soo nodded to each. "Pleasure to meet you. I am named Im, Jae-Soo."

"Good, good! Everyone is already such nice friends already. Thank you, Toris!" Ivan exclaimed happily, that boyishly cheerful smile on his face. Jae-Soo glanced towards Raivis, perplexed as the boy began to shake. Was he frightened of _her_? She hadn't done anything yet! "The three of you looked busy whispering as we walk up. Is there something fun happened?"

Jae-Soo was too busy staring at Raivis to notice the slight malice that entered Ivan's aura. She did notice Raivis' increased trembling, though. Maybe the boy was cold?

"N-Nothing much," Eduard was quick to answer, stammering slightly.

"We j-just thought it w-was s-surprising that M-Miss Im w-was w-wearing your scarf," Raivis added, shaking so much his voice rattled.

Jae-Soo turned to Ivan, meeting strangely dark purple eyes. He looked… odd… She'd never seen him look like that, actually, but it slipped away quickly to be replaced with his cheerful smile again. She mentally pushed away the oddity and asked, "Is it strange? I was cold, thus Ivan-_oppa_ lent me his scarf."

"It's strange, Miss Im, because Ivan's never lent out his scarf before," Eduard told her quickly.

"I thought it was cute. You both were," Toris put in, his gentle smile a little strained.

Jae-Soo glared at him. "I despise that word. It was a polite, friendly gesture, not _cute-_"

A shrill ringing rent the air, making the first year boys jump. Ivan's face blanched.

"Y-You did not tell Natalia, _da_?" Ivan seethed, dark eyes cutting at Toris, who flinched.

"But I… I had to! You've never made friends on your own before and such a cu- _pretty_ girl, too! I had to tell your sisters! I thought Miss Yekaterina and Miss Natalia would be happy."

"Who is-"

"Take Jae-Soo to get food and get me a plate," Ivan interrupted Jae-Soo harshly.

Jae-Soo gaped at Ivan, having never heard his voice that _angry_ before today. Just who was this Miss Natalia? All three boys leapt to their feet, but it was Toris that went with Jae-Soo to the assembly line. When they both picked up trays, Toris sighed heavily, shoulders slumping.

"I'm sorry about the drama I caused, Miss Im. His sudden temper is because of me. I should have known better. Eduard warned me it was a bad idea, but I promised Miss Yekaterina and Miss Natalia I'd keep an eye on Ivan and keep them updated as well. I also wish to apologize if I offended you by my poor word choice," Toris informed her, his smile rueful. Jae-Soo waved aside his last apology.

"Who is Miss Natalia and why does he react in that manner when she calls?" Jae-Soo demanded, taking a bowl of vegetable soup and a small handful of wheat crackers. Jae-Soo was surprised to see Toris choose steamed _baozi_ and hot and sour soup for Ivan's tray. She had no idea Ivan liked Chinese food, having never eaten with him.

"Miss Natalia is Ivan's younger sister. Miss Yekaterina is his older sister," Toris explained as he glanced anxiously over his shoulder. He dropped his voice a few octaves and leaned a little closer to Jae-Soo, but not so close she had to lean away. "They're actually adopted, Miss Natalia and Ivan. Ivan was in the Russian foster system for a while before a Ukrainian couple adopted him as a sibling to Miss Yekaterina, their biological daughter. They adopted Miss Natalia a year or two later."

Jae-Soo gaped at him, utterly and completely baffled. _A boy? A son? Adopted away from his natural-born parents? What parents would give away a boy child_? she thought in shock. She'd heard of adopted little girls, especially by foreigners, but _sons_? She picked out an aloe drink as Toris chose canned sweet tea. She blindly stared down at the label in her hand, then looked up.

"I… I have a feeling that you should not have told me this. It is a personal matter to Ivan-_oppa_," Jae-Soo finally struggled to say.

Toris smiled sadly at her as they turned towards the table. "One day, you'll be glad I told you. Also… I should warn you to avoid Miss Natalia. She's in our class- the tall, beautiful girl with long, blonde hair. I _should _have minded my own business and never texted her. Ivan is going to be furious," Toris muttered, frowning.

"If you apologize, he would forgive you, I would think. Not that I blame him if he _is_ unpleased with you," Jae-Soo admonished. Toris chuckled weakly and ducked his head. For some reason, she couldn't help but like this fellow, but, like Matt, Toris needed to grow a little… what was the word? Gumption, yes.

.

The last few days of fall break were much better than the beginning. She spent a few hours every day with Ivan. While she refused to admit any such thing as 'being lonely', it was nice to have someone to say 'good morning' and 'good night' to. Sometimes they met while she jogged in the morning. He would order her coffee for her and be waiting, smiling that ever cheerful smile that she couldn't help but feel happier seeing. She always paid him back, despite his protests. Then, they would walk back to campus together. She wasn't much of a talker, so she mostly listened to him talk about whatever came to his mind, like books, plays, ballets, and artists. His conversations were always so cultured, she felt like she learned more from him than from her professors. Maybe the lack of whiteboard and homework did the trick? They met up later for lunch or dinner, and somewhere in between they went over to the library to study. Since both had finished their homework assignments relatively quickly, Ivan mostly took her around and chose books he thought she'd like or books for himself, and other times took down books full of his favorite artists' works. She liked those better than the novels, to be honest. At every lunch or dinner they met up for, they sat with Toris, Eduard, and Raivis, whom she got to know a little better. Raivis was always a little shaky and squeaky, but Eduard was a top student in their class and offered to help her with IT classes (since Hsiao Mei was always so busy, Jae-Soo took up his offer eagerly). Toris was rather a mother-ish figure. He was always calm and gentle and smiling; being around him made her feel all warm and sleepy, like when she was a little girl and she would sleep on her mother's lap.

On the last Sunday, she finally remembered she had wanted to go shopping. Ivan volunteered to go with her when she mentioned it at lunch that day. As the new students began to return, Ivan was getting edgy, constantly looking over his shoulder or glancing at his phone. He seemed _relieved_ as they left campus behind.

Since meals were provided by the school, she didn't need to get much. Basically some bathroom essentials and laundry soap (Lovino took over doing her laundry when he saw her scream and point her gun at the machine when it chugged at her on the agreement she buy the soap for both of them), and, of course, some snacks. She didn't snack much, but she stocked up on a variety of drinks (which she shared with Hsaio Mei) and also added coffee to use in the dormitory coffee pot like a lot of older students did. Ivan recommended a good brand, being the avid coffee drinker he was, and bought a ridiculously huge box of it for himself. Later, she picked out fruits and yoghurts and other such healthy snacks, making Ivan laugh at the disgusted face she made at the ungodly amount of sugary candies _he_ bought. They walked back to campus, lugging the canvas bags and arguing pleasantly.

"I am thinking girls _like_ chocolate," Ivan pointed out, grinning as he munched on a candy bar.

"I can _stand_ dark chocolate, but I just do not enjoy sweet things," Jae-Soo muttered, glaring at him as he nommed away. "You are going to die of diabetes."

"Not even honey?" Ivan asked, laughing jovially.

"No."

"Fruit candies?"

"No."

"But you like fruit?"

"I do not like _sweet_ fruits, but, yes, I enjoy fruits."

"What about-" That loud, harsh ringing from the other afternoon split the congenial air between them. Ivan paled drastically. "I must go."

Jae-Soo opened her mouth, but he was already jogging away, phone to his ear as his longer legs easily widened the gap between them. She huffed lightly, annoyed. Whoever it was, _Miss Natalia_ or whoever, should just leave Ivan be. If Jae-Soo ever met her, she'd _make_ her leave him alone. He obviously didn't enjoy her phone calls with a siren ring like that one to warn him who it was. Jae-Soo nodded briskly and continued trudging towards the dorms alone. Of course, she made it there just fine, disgruntled, but fine. She struggled to rearrange bags to search for her key.

"SOO!" yelled an altogether too-excited voice. She groaned. Alfred grabbed her from behind and swung her up, bags and all, and then into a dizzyingly fast circle. "Heya, Soo!"

"This is the _girls' dormitory_,' Jae-Soo gritted out for perhaps the hundredth time.

"Like that matters. Put her down, you fucking moron! Can't you see she's loaded down with shit?" Lovino snapped.

"Oh, Jae-Soo! I've missed you!" Hsiao Mei exclaimed as Alfred put Jae-Soo back on her feet, pouting. Alfred grunted as Jae-Soo elbowed him as hard as possible in the solar plexus.

"Surprisingly, I missed you, too, Hsiao Mei and Lovino. I did not expect to do so after only a week. Where is Matthew?"

"Well, he wouldn't come 'cuz it's the girls' dorm. He's such a goody-goody," Alfred grumbled. Jae-Soo glared at him.

"Or you are a moron."

"Hey, you're not yelling at Lovino!"

"He does not make a nuisance of himself!"

"Jae-Soo, I brought you some oranges from Portugal! Since you didn't come with me, my dad decided to fly me out to Portugal for the week. We go there a lot because of his business," Hsiao Mei explained, handing over a bag. "It took _forever_ to get it through customs."

"Th-thank you. I bought more of those drinks you enjoy today," Jae-Soo stammered, a blush coming over her cheeks. She'd never gotten a present except for her birthday, and even those were few and far between. She just didn't come from a very gift-oriented family.

"Speaking of which, let's stop standing here with thumbs up our asses. She's got bags, you know. Hey, moron, help her out," Lovino ordered Alfred. Alfred pouted, but snatched them away before Jae-Soo could protest.

"You're really mean to me, you know that, right?"

"You'll survive. Meimei dotes on you enough anyway," Lovino retorted, shrugging carelessly.

"I-I d-do not _dote_ on him, Lovino!" Hsiao Mei exclaimed, red-faced, as Alfred laughed. She unlocked the door and shoved it open. "That's just terrible, Lovino!"

"Eh, it's true. Did you get any chocolate, Jae-Soo?" Lovino asked as he followed behind the girls and threw himself on Jae-Soo's bed.

"I thought _girls_ liked chocolate," Jae-Soo snapped, trying not to smile.

"Well, yeah, that's why I asked, fucking genius. Girls going shopping equals chocolate. Hand it over."

"I do not buy chocolate. I dislike it immensely. Ask Ivan-_oppa_ instead. He bought enough to fall into a diabetic coma," she muttered darkly. She took her bags from Alfred and began to put them away. All three teens perked up.

"Ivan? Ivan Braginski!?" Hsiao Mei all but squealed with excitement.

"Is there another _Ivan-oppa_," Lovino asked, rolling his eyes. "I thought the bastard was ignoring you?"

"Yeah, I thought you and commi weren't talkin' no more?" Alfred remembered, leaning back on Hsiao Mei's bed next to her. He didn't notice her blush return or the quick downturn of her head to hide it beneath her bangs.

"For someone native to the English language, you butcher it appallingly," Jae-Soo said casually.

"Oh, don't be such a cocktease. Spill," Lovino ordered. "You don't have chocolate, so appease me with gossip."

Jae-Soo's mouth twitched. "We met at the coffee shop near where I jog. He offered to have a drink with me and we walked back together. It snowed a little that day. He offered me his scarf because I was underdressed," Jae-Soo reported dutifully. Hsiao Mei squealed, Lovino whistled, and Alfred just sorta stared.

"He gave ya his scarf? I heard he beat up a teacher when he was told to take it off. Ya know, it's kinda against school uniform, and it's, like, summer, but he got batcrazy!"

"It's _batshit_ crazy," Lovino corrected, irritably. Alfred frowned.

"I don't like ta cuss. You cuss enough for all the firs' years combined, ya know."

"I'm not a first year, dumbass."

"And after that, Jae-Soo? What happened?" Hsiao Mei asked eagerly, ignoring the boys' bickering. Jae-Soo frowned.

"Nothing, really. We went to the library, finished the little of homework we had left, looked at art and novels, got coffee and ate lunch together. Oh, I met his friends. For some reason, he only sits with first years. Laurinaitis-_oppa_, Galante-_dongseng_, and von Bock-_oppa_," Jae-Soo remembered. She was very proud of herself for being able to say their names. Toris' had been hard, and so had Eduard's, because of that confounded 'v'.

"Yes, I know them. Eduard-kun is in IT club with us, right, Al?" Hsiao Meu asked, turning to him. Alfred shrugged.

"Well, good job, Jae-Soo. Maybe you'll have someone to take to the dance," Lovino congratulated, patting her on the back.

"Dance? What is "the dance" that you are proposing I accompany Ivan-_oppa_, too?" Jae-Soo asked warily, mentally picturing her traditional dance classes and Ivan in a _choson-ot_. She covered her mouth to keep from laughing at the image.

"You don't know about the dance?" Hsiao Mei exclaimed, brown eyes lighting up. Alfred groaned and got up heavily.

"I'm gonna go bug Mattie. I hate girl talk. Aren'tcha gonna come, Lovino?"

"I'd much rather have girl talk than spend any extra time with you," Lovino replied nonchalantly. "I'm still hoping Meimei has some chocolate."

Hsiao Mei laughed and they waved to Alfred as he left. Jae-Soo opened up the bag Hsiao Mei had given her, took out an orange, and settled back. A soda was handed over to Lovino and Hsiao Mei snuggled up on the bed next to Jae-Soo.

"You've never been to a dance?" Hsiao Mei asked.

"I really do not think we think of the same… occurrence… when you use that term," Jae-Soo answered slowly.

"Okay, so someone asks out someone else and they meet up and go to the gym together. In the gym, it's all dolled up like some cheap kid's birthday party and the teachers serve flat punch. They play stupid music and the couples pair off on the gym floor and pretend they can dance. It's hilarious to see them try and fail," Lovino explained quickly.

"I think it's fun! It doesn't matter what you look like, it matters who you're with! You ask out someone you like! It's a way to confess and then spend time with that person. They hold you in their arms and you gaze at each other and, maybe, when it's a really slow, lovely song, and the lights are low, and you're so close you can feel each other breathe, he'll lean down and kiss you," Hsiao Mei said, clasping her hands in front of her chest, eyes starry and voice breathless.

Lovino stared at his soda, frowning darkly. Jae-Soo was gaping at Hsiao Mei as if she'd grown a second head.

"You enjoy that little dream, Meimei. I'll be in the corner, drinking liquor with the potato bastards and trying not to puke everywhere," Lovino mumbled, chugging back some soda. "Sure there isn't chocolate?"

"Lovino… what's wrong?" Hsiao Mei asked, the stars gone as worry filled her gaze.

"I've been in love since I was nine. And he's dating my fucking niece, the dick," Lovino snarled to his soda can.

Hsiao Mei and Jae-Soo stared at him.

.

_A/N: dongseng- an honorific used by older to younger peers. Jae-Soo uses it instead of oppa because Raivis is the same height, to the point of almost being shorter with all that cringing and shivering of his. _

_Sorry if y'all don't like any one perception of a character. I promise most of them will be more developed as the time goes on, but remember that Jae-Soo is just meeting them and doesn't seem to notice Ivan's… darker tendencies very much. She's completely oblivious to it (think Ivan and Busby's Chair). There's obviously some backstory that Jae-Soo is not a part of. (She also somehow missed a very key rumor of Ivan's character that Alfred mentioned. XD) I'm not going to leave any character flat, nor am I going to used stale, re-used profiles. No, Natalia will not be crazy stalker girl, no, Raivis and Eduard will not revolve only around Ivan. If any character isn't developed enough, it's because they aren't important to the plot. _

_There. Rant over. _


	6. Protective

Kitty: Well, I should be writing chapter 3 of Seven Sins… but my muses died this past week. Like, literally, I opened that file and wrote about a paragraph… and it just died. I opened it every day and it just sat there, waiting pathetically, and I couldn't write… AND THEN MY GAKUEN MUSES STRUCK, MUAHAHAHAHHA!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. Nor am I DPRK citizen, so any and all information has been researched online. I try not to use Wikipedia. This contains fluff, a little wangst, zero plot, and homosexuality. Enjoy~

Edit: Once again. I went nowhere.

_ www. sgn sgnnews39_51 /page1. cfm This is the article I used for DPRK's views on homosexuality._

Intimidation, Fear, and Love?

Chapter Six

Protective

Hsiao Mei reached around Jae-Soo and touched Lovino's knee. "You can talk to us about it, Lovino. Right, Jae-Soo?"

"I'll be terrible with advice or consoling, but yes, you can talk with us," Jae-Soo confirmed.

Lovino scoffed, though his expression was still pained. "Thanks for the honesty, Jae-Soo." He leaned back and stared up at the ceiling, frowning. "I don't really like talking about it. I haven't even told Feli. Not really."

"What's the point of having girlfriends if you don't empty out your heart with them? It's what we're best at!" Hsiao Mei scolded gently. Lovino rolled his eyes at her. "In all seriousness, Lovino, we're here to help you. We're your friends so we want you to be happy, not sad. If talking about it can help, please, talk to us."

"You do not have to talk about it, Lovino. It is difficult to discuss feelings and secrets. Once you begin keeping a secret, and you force it down so far that you almost forget about it, it is painful to recall it," Jae-Soo murmured in a quiet voice. He looked down at her, a little surprised. "In a way, though, is it not a good way to leech the poison? Hearing people tell you it is fine, that they care about you regardless of your secret, it will make you feel better afterward."

"And we'll always care about you, Lovino! I know I will. We're friends," Hsiao Mei added. Jae-Soo lifted her head and frowned at Lovino. He had bitten his lip and was staring at his soda can.

"Lovino, I have never friends before I met you two. You two are my closest friends, my first friends. Even though I am strange and awkward and from DPRK, you are my friend. I would _never_ give you up easily. I find it hard to imagine I ever would," Jae-Soo admitted, blushing just a bit. Lovino finally met her eyes and half-laughed, a wry, rueful smirk on his face.

"That's funny. That's how I've been my whole life. I guess that's how it started…" Lovino broke off, then, sighed heavily. "We met at futbol camp when I was nine, he was ten. I'm an asshole, I know it. I've always been an asshole. My brother used to get picked on, cuz he liked to wear dresses and he talked like a girl, so I'd protect him the best I could, by yelling and cussing at the bullies. I can't fight worth a shit, so I just tried to scare them off.

"But when I met Antonio, he smiled at me. And even though I was rude and mean and I cussed, he always kept smiling at me and paired with me at practice. He held my hand when I fell down…" Lovino trailed off, smiling bitterly. "He said we'd be best friends forever and that I was his favorite person in the whole world. When I cried, he hugged me."

"He's sounds wonderful, Lovino. It's no wonder you fell in love," Hsiao Mei murmured, smiling softly. Jae-Soo frowned and nibbled on the orange she held.

"Well, Jae-Soo?" Lovino urged. Jae-Soo jerked and looked up, blinking.

"I-I am… confused. Antonio is a boy… but you love him. In my country, that's considered… strange. Couples should marry a suitable partner of the opposite gender to have a functional family and be functional members of society. I have heard my grandfather say it is a… a "Western aberration" and that a pure, socialist society would never have "corrupted men" like capitalist countries do," Jae-Soo tried to explain, frowning. "However, I do not like to think that my friend is corrupted or an aberration. Nor do I like to think that loving someone for being kind could be an aberration. That is a very pure and good reason to love, in my thinking," Jae-Soo trailed off and sighed. "I do not understand love well."

Hsiao Mei hugged Jae-Soo, making Jae-Soo 'urk' with discomfort. Another thing about DPRK citizens: Public Displays of Affection were awkward and frowned upon. She still didn't like it. Lovino laughed lightly and chugged at his soda.

"Jae-Soo, thanks. For not thinking I'm an aberration. That means a lot," Lovino murmured, his amber eyes darting to her annoyed face. "It's refreshing after being raised in a religion that would never look at it your way."

"I do not believe in religion. Hsiao Mei, you really do not need to clasp me so."

"Sorry! I just wanna say, Lovino, that I feel the same as Jae-Soo. She said it so sweetly, I couldn't help but hug her," Hsiao Mei explained, grinning and teary-eyed. Jae-Soo grumbled and nibbled on her orange. "I think your feelings for Antonio are beautiful! You should never be ashamed of them!"

"Thanks. I figured you'd be like that, though. I don't think you're capable of hating, Mei," Lovino pointed out dryly.

Hsiao Mei blushed brightly and Jae-Soo nodded. "You said Antonio is dating your niece, though? Are you not young for a niece? Feliciano-_oppa_ is younger than you, is he not?" Jae-Soo prompted him. Lovino sighed.

"We have a really big family. She's kinda more like a niece twice removed or a third cousin whatever," Lovino answered with a vague wave of his hand. "She went to futbol camp with me the next year. We're the same age and we were pretty tight as kids. I wasn't really surprised when she told me she liked him a few weeks later, everyone likes that bastard, but I _was_ surprised when he told me they were dating just when camp ended." Lovino's mouth tightened into a thin line. "I never hated him so much as I did, then. I couldn't even wish his girlfriend to fall in a hole, because she was my _family_. They've been dating ever since. They break up now and then, my niece is a lot like me and she gets angry with him. She also hates stupid. I don't think she can handle his for long without dumping him."

Hsiao Mei burst into giggles, and even Jae-Soo cracked a small smile. Lovino smirked at them and then tossed the soda can into the trash.

"They always get back together though. Whenever they break up, he comes _to me_ to make him feel better. When they get back together, he comes _to me_ so I can congratulate him, when I just want to punch him in the face. I should hate him. I should have given up. He'll never see me as more than his futbol buddy, his _amigo_, but I can't help it. Whenever it's just us two, and he's smiling at me and laughing, and his hand is on my shoulder, it's like the world is a better place. And I fall in love with the bastard all over again."

He gritted his teeth and covered his eyes with his hand. "I feel like an idiot. I feel _pathetic_."

"Do not."

Lovino peered from behind his fingers at Jae-Soo. She was frowning angrily, brown eyes dark.

"Do not ever feel pathetic for falling in love. I may not understand it, but I envy you. You make it sound like something beautiful. You should never be ashamed of something beautiful such as that. I cannot give you love advice. I cannot truly make you feel better or fix your problem, but I can tell you that your feelings are something I respect the most about you. Thus, do not be ashamed," Jae-Soo told him firmly and earnestly. Lovino chuckled, tears falling just a bit. Hsiao Mei handed over a tissue, already holding one to her face.

"Thanks, Jae-Soo. I actually do feel better."

"You are welcome. Why are you both crying? Hsiao Mei, you are ridiculous. Why are wailing like that?"

"It's just- it's so romantic and sad and I can't help it! I'm sorry! I'm such a sap!" Hsiao Mei wailed only louder, making Lovino laugh and Jae-Soo roll her eyes.

"We should head to dinner, do you not think?" Jae-Soo directed towards Lovino as his chuckles subsided. He opened his mouth to reply, and then frowned.

"Weren't you eating an orange?"

"Yes?"

"Where'd the hell it go?" Lovino demanded in confusion. Jae-Soo blinked as Hsiao Mei blew her nose loudly.

"I ate it."

"Da hol' ding?" Hsiao Mei sniffled.

"Yes, I ate the whole thing."

"Where's the peel?"

"I just said I ate the whole thing. Is my English that poor?" Jae-Soo snapped at Lovino. She hopped off the bed and brushed the few seeds off her palm into the trashcan. She turned to see Lovino and Hsiao Mei staring at her, looks of mingled horror and amusement on their faces. "What is it?" Her friends shared a look and then shook their heads, also getting off the bed.

"You're crazy, Jae-Soo," Lovino told her, tossing away his used tissue. Hsiao Mei followed suit and they headed out the door.

"Pardon me?"

"No one eats the _peel _of an orange, Jae-Soo!" Hsiao Mei exclaimed, half-giggling.

"That statement is fallacious. _I do_," Jae-Soo argued, frowning and crossing her arms over her chest. Her cheeks were tinged with pink. "I like oranges. I like citrus fruits, to be… honest…" she trailed off as goosebumps ran up her spine.

They weren't that far from the exit of the dorms, but whatever was behind her was coming up fast. She could suddenly hear the click of boot heels under the murmuring echoes of the students filing out to dinner, greeting other classmates, and chattering.

"Jae-Soo?" Lovino murmured, wondering as her eyes narrowed.

"Do you hear-" Hsiao Mei began. She cut off with a short cry as Jae-Soo knocked her to the side and spun around, knife flashing in the hallway light. Another knife flew into the air and clattered to the ground. "Oh my God- Natalia-chan?"

Jae-Soo narrowed her eyes as the pretty girl from next door stormed towards them. Her long blonde hair swished behind her and the bow over her forehead looked strange on such an intimidating girl's head. Behind her, a slightly taller girl with shorter, paler blonde hair was tearfully following. She looked a little older and her shirt seemed a little too small, but she had a sweet, if weepy, face. The girl, called Natalia, came to a halt, dark eyes flashing. It was odd… her eyes were much darker, but they did seem to have that strange purple cast to them like Ivan. Natalia crossed her arms under her breasts and glaring down at Jae-Soo.

"I hear you spent time with my brother this week?" she demanded. Jae-Soo stared at her.

"You threw a _knife_ at me because I spent time with Ivan-_oppa_?" Jae-Soo questioned.

"Yes. Does it matter?"

"No. I was clarifying. What do you want?"

"Stay _away_ from my brother! He doesn't need some _cute little girl_ to bother him! He's had enough bullshit! If you knew anything about him, you'd break his heart, just like everyone else! So stay away before you do anymore damage!" Natalia ordered harshly.

"I refuse. Ivan-_oppa_ is my friend. I do not intend on changing that any time in the foreseeable future. I _definitely_ will not change that because his irritatingly interfering little sister _threatens_ me to do so. I refuse to be threatened by _anyone_, Miss…" she glanced towards Hsiao Mei, who was looking horrified.

"Ar-Arlovskaya," Hsiao Mei whispered automatically.

"Thank you. Arlosokaya-_unni_, I will not cease speaking with Ivan-_oppa_."

Natalia's eyes narrowed as her shoulders tensed. Jae-Soo knew what was coming and, seeing Natalia weaponless, sheathed her dagger. Natalia darted forward and grabbed Jae-Soo's shirt collar. Jae-Soo's eyes widened and she quickly dropped, bringing Natalia down with her.

"NO, Natalia! Stop it! You'll get in trouble!" cried the older girl.

"Jae-soo! Nata-chan! Please, stop it!"

"Kick her in the fucking shins, Jae-Soo!"

"Lovino!"

Jae-Soo ignored them, grunting as her back hit the tile. Natalia grabbed her arm and, with an amazing amount of force, twisted Jae-Soo around. Only years of training kept Jae-Soo from letting out a noise. She instead trapped Natalia's knee between her ankles and rolled. She smiled humorlessly as Natalia gasped when she hit the floor. Elbows got tangled up and a fist hit Jae-Soo's eye. She _hated_ wrestling. Her small stature made it extremely difficult on her, and Natalia was not only taller, but stronger.

_I will not cry out_, Jae-Soo thought savagely, using her free arm to elbow Natalia's throat.

"_Get off me!"_ Jae-Soo snarled, kicking Natalia's hip as she tried to scramble out from under her when the taller girl's hold loosened. One eye was swelling up, but she could see Natalia's furious, pale face just before Natalia slammed her back into the ground, knocking the breath from her.

"You wore his scarf. You don't realize what water you're treading, _little girl_. I'll break you before you break him!" Natalia screamed in a hoarse, breathless voice.

"Natalia! Please! Ivan's a grown boy! He can take care of himself!"

"Shut up, Katyusha! You know I'm right! This _girl_ has no idea what Ivna's capable of! What he can do! You'll run screaming if you saw my real brother! I can't stand aside to watch him fall apart again!" Jae-Soo's eyes widened in shock as tears filled Natalia's eyes. "I'm the only one that understands! I'm the only one, don't you see? You stay away from him!"

"You are weak."

Natalia's eyes narrow in confusion and then she was flung off Jae-Soo, who had managed to bring up her feet to kick Natalia off. She struggled to a sitting position as Hsiao Mei and Kayusha ran towards Natalia. It looked more like they were holding her down, instead of helping her up. Around them, a large group of girls had gathered, gasping and exclaiming, some even placing bets. One girl, with glasses, was frowning and texting on her phone.

"You let your guard drop," Jae-Soo snapped at Natalia as Lovino kneeled beside her. "However, that is not the real weakness. You are weak in your faith for Ivan-_oppa_. Why can you not believe that someone can truly be his friend despite who he is and what his flaws are?"

"_You know nothing about us!_" Natalia screamed.

"You are right. I do not. You do not know me, either. You do not know my demons or my flaws. _Ivan-oppa is my friend! I will everything in my power to remain that way!_ He is… he is my friend…" Jae-Soo whispered, shoulders slumping. "Perchance that means little to nothing to you, but it means everything to me. My friends mean _everything_ to me. I have never had friends before now."

"Jae-Soo, come on. Let's go clean you up," Lovino whispered in a low voice. He helped her to her feet, but she pushed his hands aside to walk upright and by herself once standing. Hsiao Mei scrambled to her feet.

"I'm coming! Wait!" she called after them. She turned to Natalia and smiled sadly. "She really is honest, Nata-chan. You should give her a chance. Let people surprise you, Nata-chan," Hsiao Mei advised. "And don't speak with your voice like that! You'll make it worse!" With that, she ran after Jae-Soo and Lovino.

"We're going to be in so much trouble. Arthur's cousin was there, I think her name is Alice. She works in the student council with him. She was definitely texting him," Hsiao Mei murmured a few minutes later as they left the first aid station. Jae-Soo and Lovino glared at her. With Jae-Soo's newly acquired black eye, she looked fierce indeed.

"Can it, Meimei. That Brit's a friend of yours. Just tell him Jae-Soo was defending her _life_. You did see the _knife_ that crazy bitch threw, right?" Lovino retorted.

"It would not have struck anything vital. I believe she aimed to scare, not hurt. However, it was dangerously close to Hsiao Mei. That was uncalled for," Jae-Soo muttered, pressing the coldpack to her eye.

"Okay, _you're_ a crazy bitch, too."

"Ha ha," Jae-Soo stated drily.

"Natalia really isn't that bad! I really like her! I mean, she was hard to get to know at first, but she's actually very sweet and pretty. I just think… I think she might be a _bit_ over-protective of her brother. I don't know much, but she doesn't come from a very pleasant past."

Jae-Soo chewed her lip, wondering if she should tell them what Toris had told her. It was none of her business, though, so she kept her mouth shut. Maybe Toris didn't have discretion, but Jae-Soo did.

"She _threw_ a knife!" Lovino exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air as they entered the cafeteria at last.

"Hey, what took you guys so long? I'm starving, man!" Alfred yelled from their usual table. "Dude! Jae-Soo! Your face!"

Of course, the entire cafeteria stared at them then. Alfred's voice was comparable to an elephant's. A large amount of girls whispered hurriedly to each other, and a few boys were whistling. Jae-Soo grunted as a hand slapped her back hard.

"I heard you took on Arlovskaya and lived, great job, shrimp," Mathias congratulated as he walked by with the other boys most the school jokingly dubbed "The Nords."

"You really should be careful, Jae-Soo," one of the first years murmured as he passed. Hsiao Mei blushed and her eyes got starry as they waved to each other.

"That's Timo, the Finnish boy in our year. Isn't he adorable?"

"Meimei, head out the clouds. We're here for actual food, not eye candy," Lovino muttered as they followed the Nords towards the assembly line where Alfred and Matt were now standing.

"I hate gossip," Jae-Soo sighed.

"Dude, Jae-Soo, that eye just looks worse the closer you get. You okay?" Alfred asked with genuine concern. Jae-Soo gazed up him, nonplussed. She wasn't used to Alfred being so serious. "Are you being bullied, Jae-Soo?"

"No! Of course not!"

"She got in a catfight, dumbass," Lovino replied, walking past to get to the pasta line.

"Whoa!"

"Oh, Jae-Soo! Surely you know better than that!" Matt exclaimed. She walked with him to the salad bar as Hsiao Mei and Alfred went to the pizza line. Though Hsiao Mei normally ate pretty healthy, she had a weakness for mushroom and olive pizza.

"I did not have much of a choice. She threw herself at me. I believe she has trained in wrestling. Perchance she learned somba, if she lives near Russia…" Jae-Soo mumbled, glaring at the trays and wondering how she was going to serve herself and hold the coldpack up.

"How about we share a tray and you tell me what you want?" Matt suggested. Jae-Soo gave him one of her rare smiles, half-hidden by the large plastic gel-filled pack. He smiled back and continued on with the conversation, piling up the salad. "I doubt wrestling is one of your strong points, seeing how small you are. Why did she attack you?"

"Brother complex."

"Eh?"

Jae-Soo shook her head and they headed over to the table. When they got there, Alfred was glaring at Ivan. They were almost eye to eye, Alfred was that tall, but Ivan was ignoring him with a pleasantly strained smile on his face. Hsiao Mei and Lovino were sitting at the table, the former looking anxious and the latter intrigued. When Ivan caught sight of Jae-Soo, he brushed past Alfred and stepped up to Jae-Soo. In front of the whole cafeteria, he grasped her hand and pulled it away from her face. She blushed cherry-red and froze, his gentle touch confusing the crap out of her. She blinked as that fleeting glimpse she'd caught before came back and took over his entire features. The sheer amount of rage on his face floored her as he let out a rush of what she assumed to be Russian expletives.

"I am fine, Ivan-_oppa_. Please, do not make a scene _here_. I am hungry and I… what is that phrase? I gave as well as I received."

"…gave as good as I got…" Alfred mumbled from behind Ivan. "Do you want me to tell this guy to leave, Soo? It's _his_ fault some crazy lady beat you up."

Jae-Soo cut a glare at Hsiao Mei, who flushed brightly. "No, Alfred. Ivan-_oppa_ is my friend and is not responsible for his sister's actions. It would be preferable if he explained them," Jae-Soo prompted sardonically.

"I can only say I am sorry. I knew she will be angry, but this I not expected," Ivan told her sadly.

"I do not think she expected I would fight back, Ivan-_oppa_. She did not begin the struggle with the intent to harm, only intimidate," Jae-Soo tried to explain again. Ivan waved his hand.

"Is all same. I will speak with her and it will not happen again."

"That's not necessary, brother," replied a voice that Jae-Soo was inwardly pleased to hear still sounded hoarse. Ivan snapped something in Russian and Jae-Soo turned to look over her shoulder.

Natalia and Katyusha stood there. She didn't looked physically harmed, other than a slight shadow of a bruise on her throat, but when she stepped forward, she limped a bit.

"We should only speak in English," Jae-Soo said to Ivan, frowning. He glanced at her and she saw that rage again that was quickly squashed.

"I agree with… the girl…" Natalia relied, hesitating over Jae-Soo's obviously unknown name.

"Im, Jae-Soo. You are Arlosukaya?"

"Arlovskaya." Jae-Soo frowned at the 'v'. "Just call me Natalia. I wanted to…" Natalia looked away and Jae-Soo was surprised to see a hint of pink on the girl's pale skin. Katyusha made 'go on' motions and smiled. "I want to apologize. I misunderstood the situation. I thought you and brother were dating. I couldn't see how someone who barely knew him could date him and I was scared you'd break up with him if you got to know him and then he'd be hurt. I didn't realize you were just friends. I just wanted… I just wanted to protect my brother," Natalia murmured, staring at the floor.

Jae-Soo stepped forward, forcing Natalia to look up and meet her one-eye gaze. "Perhaps you have good intentions, but you should trust your brother's judgment, do you not think? If it will help you at all, I am not interested in dating _anyone_. I am here to learn, not fraternize. I would appreciate it if you did not throw knives or punches at me," Jae-Soo paused, then looked away. "You are very good at wrestling, however. Was that sambo?"

Natalia blinked. "Yes, a little. I picked up a little boxing, too. Mostly, I just fight as hard as possible. You have great technique with knives. How did you know I was behind you?"

"It is experience on my part. You had great aim, but I prefer not having my friends frightened out of their wits."

"Thank you."

"I give the same to you."

Natalia nodded and then turned and left.

"Thank you for being so understanding!" Katyusha exclaimed. "Ivan, you stay with Jae-Soo, I'll make sure Natalia stays out of trouble, promise!" she waved to Ivan and jogged after Natalia, completely oblivious to the stares of the male students.

"I am… impressed…" Ivan said slowly. She turned her head over her shoulder and looked up at Ivan. "You handle my sister well."

"She handles herself well. She is just… overzealous. She must care for you a great deal, Ivan-_oppa_," Jae-Soo replied with a shrug. She walked back to the booth where Matt had set down her plate.

"Yes, she does. Thank you, Jae-Soo, for being my friend," Ivan murmured. She whipped her head around, one eye wide. He was smiling as her, so boyishly and unsure, it made her heart rather hurt. _What a strange feeling_.

"I enjoy being your friend, Ivan-_oppa_. Do not thank me. I do not give much in return," she stated. She sat down and Ivan sat with her. His eyes rested on her face as she snapped something at Alfred before he, too, turned back to the group.

Lovino glanced between them and frowned.


	7. Trick or Treat

_Kitty: I am _furious _that the last chapter didn't get as far as I wanted. *flips everything* I started this chapter three times and then deleted SIX BLOODY PAGES. Why do I ramble so? Golly, this got long. Also… the ending surprised me…_

_**Lost in Translation a.k.a Don't EVER trust Wiki: The sound for "Jae" is, in fact, "Jay", like Alfred used in chapter one. Stupid wiki and its BAD IPA. Anyway. I going to leave as is, because, well, does it matter at this point? Lol. Also, this is for South Korean, not North Korean. There **_**is**_** a dialectal difference and maybe they do in fact pronounce it "Jeh". I dunno. Let's just say they do and call it a day. Fascinating note: They allow visitors into DPRK now. Only… they hate Americans. Curses.**_

_I happen to be listening to Chinese music. No idea who or what (pretty sure one is called Faye Wong). But it sure is pretty and I've got a huge folder of it. Life is good._

_Disclaimer: No owning of the Hetalia. T for adult language, homosexuality, fluff, angst, and sooner or later, violence. _

Intimidation, Fear, and Love

Chapter Seven

Trick or Treat

Before the first week back ended, Jae-Soo was sick of the 'dance'. It was all anyone talked about. The only sane people to spend time with were the boys she knew. Hsiao Mei was suddenly in a flurry of activity, volunteering to help the student council with setting up for the dance. It was from Arthur and Hsiao Mei that she learned of the school's _ball room_. That's right, a _ball room_. Many students actually took dancing classes including old styles like waltzes and quadrilles and the like, so they used the ball room for that. And, therefore, it was going to be used for the dance. Jae-Soo just wanted it over. Lovino was right with her. As popular was he was with the girls in his year, the idea of watching Antonio and his niece, Chiara, dance all lovey-dovey the entire night made him sick.

The Friday morning before the dance, Jae-Soo was more than relieved. Soon enough it would be _over_. Hsiao Mei had spent the entire week trying to convince Jae-Soo into different costume ideas. That's right, _costumes_. Not only was there something as irritating as a _school dance_ to deal with, but she was expected to wear a costume. Some silly Western holiday called Halloween was the theme. Lovino explained the holiday and its origins, which only confused Jae-Soo further. The idea of a holiday respecting the spirits of the dead evolving to wearing costumes and bothering your neighbors for candy was _beyond ridiculous_. With Ivan and Lovino to help, she had finally stopped Hsiao Mei's assault over her costume. As disappointed as Lovino and Hsiao Mei both were, Jae-Soo firmly put her foot down and was planning on going in just her _choson-ot_.

Hsiao Mei was bubbling over with excitement that morning. Though, it was a strange sort of excitement that once again left Jae-Soo utterly baffled. Hsiao Mei went from beaming and giggling and bouncing on the balls of her feet, to becoming flushed and pale in turns while wringing her hands and muttering in low Chinese. A very weird Chinese that Jae-Soo could not even make out a word of, which meant it had to be that strange Taiwanese dialect Hsiao Mei slipped into now and then. Not that Jae-Soo was fluent in Chinese, but she and Yong-Soo had lived in China for two years as toddlers, and her mother had made her speak it on occasion to keep up some skill.

"Hsiao Mei… is there…." Jae-Soo trailed off. She wasn't good with discussing feelings or bringing up questions in the topic. She was also discreet to the point of being almost without curiosity. Hsiao Mei's behavior was too worrying, however, to let pass. So, she gulped down the awkward and forced herself to continue. "Is there something the matter with you, Hsiao Mei?" she asked bluntly.

Hsiao Mei blinked, set down her hair brush, and stared at her fingers, blushing. "I… I'm acting strangely, aren't I? I'm such an idiot!" Hsiao Mei exclaimed, burying her face in her hands.

Jae-Soo stared at her. "… _why_ are you idiot?"

Hsiao Mei burst into laughter, resurfacing from her cupped palms. "I'm sorry, Jae-Soo. I'm… I'm nervous."

"…" Jae-Soo stared at her longer, completely lost. "… is your costume not prepared sufficiently?"

"Oh, no, not that! I finished it weeks ago, silly. _Some_ people care about the school calendar and events."

_Some people would imply not me, I suppose,_ Jae-Soo thought wryly.

"It's just… well… I'm…" Hsiao Mei starting twisting her fingers together again, blushing from her collarbones to her hairline. "I'm going to ask out Al."

At the silence, Hsiao Mei glanced up through her lashes. Brown met brown and Hsiao Mei began to giggle. Once again, Jae-Soo was stumped.

"To ask someone out means to… ah, ask to be my partner at the dance. Or to go on a date. Or to be your boyfriend or girlfriend. In this case, though, only asking Alfred to the dance. That other stuff, that's just jumping ahead of myself, and I don't even know if he'll say yes to the dance, because he and Natalia have been together a lot recently and I think he might like her. I don't know if she likes him, because she hits him a lot, but she hasn't broken fingers, of course, Al is built like a brick- I'm rambling, I'm sorry." Hsiao Mei lapsed in miserable silence immediately and slumped over her desk.

Jae-Soo bit her lip, seriously pondering the matter. She had grown a little fonder of the American, though they were by no means _good friends_. However, she knew how close Hsiao Mei and Alfred were. Lovino had often made snide remarks about Hsiao Mei's obvious "crush", as he'd called it. Jae-Soo hadn't really taken any of it seriously for the same reason she brushed off remarks about her and Ivan's relationship.

_She did not understand_.

What makes a "crush" different from affection? General friendship? What was it that made someone special? She had no idea. Not to mention, she was raised a situation rather lacking in physical affection herself. She always felt that those kinds of feelings were reserved for older people, _adults_, and not something a teenager should concern themselves with. Looking at Hsiao Mei, now, though, with her hopeful eyes and silly smile and anxious fidgeting, Jae-Soo was once again confronted with the idea that, yes, teenagers worried about it. First Lovino, now Hsiao Mei. So, how was she supposed to give advice?

"I suppose… just inviting him to the dance is a... practical first step. You two are, at the least, good friends. I do not think Jones is capable of directly hurting any person's feeling, let alone _yours_," Jae-Soo said slowly.

Hsiao Mei's smile widened. "That's true. Thank you for being so practical with me." Jae-Soo frowned, wondering if Hsiao Mei was being condescending, as the other girl jumped up. "We better go to class, then, come on!"

They walked together as they normally did, though Hsiao Mei's usual chatter was rather subdued. The closer they got to the classroom, the more withdrawn she became. Outside the door, Hsiao Mei gulped in a breath and skipped in with her usual sunny smile, Jae-Soo trailing after her, frowning. Hsiao Mei was really taking this too seriously… right?

"Heya, Jokkun~" Hsiao Mei all but sang, sliding into her seat next to him. He grinned at her.

"Hey, Mei. You been usin' that funny name for a while. Where'd it come from?"

"Well, your last name is Jones, and –kun is a Japanese-" Hsiao Mei began to explain brightly. Alfred turned away as the door opened again to reveal Natalia with Toris and Feliks.

"Sorry, Mei, I'll be right back, okay? Just gimme a sec," Alfred interrupted, blushing a bit and getting to his feet.

Hsiao Mei and Jae-Soo watched as Alfred walked up to Natalia, rubbing the back of his neck and pointing out the door. At first, Natalia only glared, but after a few seconds, she stormed out the door, Alfred at her heels. Toris was staring after them, looking torn between amusement, confusion, and regret.

"Did… did that…"

Jae-Soo turned to Hsiao Mei and blinked. The look on Hsiao Mei's face was indescribable. She was shaking all over and her eyes were wide and shiny. She looked _devastated_ and downright shell-shocked.

"Hs-Hsiao-" Jae-Soo stammered.

"MeiMei! Bery wanted me to give you this printout from IT club- Mei? Oh, MeiMei, are you sick?" exclaimed the Finnish boy Hsiao Mei knew from a mutual acquaintance.

She jumped and stared up at him. "Y-yes- Yes, Tinchan, could you take me to the nurse's office?"

"Of course! Here, take my hand, sweetie. Jae-Soo, you'll tell the teacher, right?" Timo asked as he helped Hsiao Mei out of her seat. By now, Hsiao Mei looked like she was going to throw up.

"I do not consider that a problem. Hsiao Mei… you will forget all about the situation soon. Do not make yourself sick,"Jae-Soo said softly, brown eyes earnest. Hsiao Mei nodded mutely and left with Timo. Jae-Soo sat back, frowning even harder. When Alfred came in with Natalia, grinning even wider than usual, Jae-Soo felt like kicking him… in the _shins_. Really. Really. Hard.

"Hey, Sue, where's Mei? I wanna tell her me 'n' Natalia are goin' t'the dance. Can you believe it, yo?" Alfred exclaimed, still grinning.

Jae-Soo glared at him and looked away. "She left with the Finn," Jae-Soo snapped angrily.

"Wha?" Luckily, Matt came in then and distracted Alfred. Matt had been late most likely due to his morning hockey practice. She mentally thanked the Canadian for his timely entrance and seethed in bewildered anger for the rest of the day.

In Orchestra, Arthur approached her, looking around in confusion, as if Hsiao Mei would appear the more he looked. When that didn't work, he stared down at Jae-Soo, scowling.

"Where is MeiMei?" he demanded.

"She became ill this morning. She may yet be in the nurse's office," Jae-Soo retorted, tuning her violin. Arthur blinked at her, startled.

"Is she ill? I must pay a call on her after class. I do hope it's not my fault. I have been asking a lot of her recently, and she has her other clubs and work," Arthur murmured, appearing genuinely concerned and guilty.

"It is not your doing, President Kirkland. Is there anything with which I can help you?" Jae-Soo asked, already having a pile of assignments for MeiMei in her bag.

"Ah, well, it's a small matter with the council. I don't suppose…" he paused. Oddly, he began to stare quite intently at her, giving her a slow, assessing look up and down, his chin cradled in the curve of his thumb and index finger. "Actually… perhaps you _can_ help."

.

It was Saturday night. The ballroom was strewn with orange and black paper streamers. Cobwebs filled the corners and washable paint fogged the windows while real, dry-ice-generated-fog steamed and curled over the wooden floor so thickly Jae-Soo couldn't see her feet. A long buffet table along one side was filled with trays of candies and oddly themed foods and three huge cauldrons were filled to the brim with different beverages. Large, stupidly grinning spiders hung from the ceiling and current, music-chart-topping music from almost every country was being played from a table run by a man dressed like a gangster-Frankenstein.

Jae-Soo crossed her arms over her chest, completely unimpressed, and wondering if she could use her new sash of authority to separate the currently dancing couples with a broom. The favor President Kirkland ended up asking her for was to fill in for Michelle Bonnefoy, the current Disciplinary Officer, who shirked off her duty to go to the dance with a boy from the Philippines. When she informed the girl the evening before, not only was Bonnefoy grateful, she was _ecstatic_. She even suggested Jae-Soo take her place permanently. Which was highly tempting if President Kirkland allowed broom-wielding. When a couple from Motherland-knows-where began dancing in a highly risqué and suggestive manner, Jae-Soo reached for her pistol. She mentally cursed as Hsiao Mei and Lovino blocked her view. When they finally moved, President Kirkland was already lecturing the two dancers quite vigorously. At least the obscenity had ceased. She turned her attention back to her two best friends, one dressed in a suit with a fake Uzi slung over his shoulders and a loose tie, the other wearing a very old-style Chinese gown with her hair up in a hairdo Jae-Soo only saw in old, classic watercolors. While she couldn't place Lovino's character at all, Hsiao Mei's Chang 'e costume was instantly recognizable.

"How do you like your new shitty job?" Lovino asked, sipping at the red punch. He handed over the clear punch she knew mainly consisted of ginger ale. Of all the sodas, ginger ale was really the only one Jae-Soo could handle.

"I would enjoy it more if I could employ force," Jae-Soo muttered. Hsiao Mei giggled. "Are you two enjoying it?"

"Oh, yes! I'm so glad Tinchan agreed to be my date! I really got two in one, you know, because he and Ber-_sempai_ are always together. Ber-_sempai_ even promised me a slow dance. He's really nice once you get to know him. And very good-looking, once you get used to the scowl," Hsiao Mei replied in her usual perky, bright voice. Jae-Soo happened to notice Hsiao Mei never looked to where Natalia and Alfred were dancing, dressed as a Russian princess (a costume to match her brother) and a blood-and-gore-splattered man wielding a chainsaw, respectively. "They both look so cool in their Vikings costumes, don't they? Ber-_sempai_ looks like he was born for it!"

"I got some compliments on my costume. Good to know people still like old gangster movies," Lovino noted with a nonchalant shrug and a disdainful curl to his lip.

"Who _are_ you?" Jae-Soo asked.

"Sonny Coreleone… you haven't seen the_ Godfather_, have you?"

"No. Is it Italian?"

"Nah. It's one of America's few good films. I like old gangster films and I figured more people would get a _Godfather _reference. Plus, Sonny was a violent bastard. Definitely a fave, there," Lovino replied, grinning a bit before drinking more punch. Jae-Soo nodded slightly. "Where's your big, tall, and creepy?" Lovino queried, glancing around. Jae-Soo raised an eyebrow.

"I think he means Ivan-_sempai_, Jaechan," Hsiao Mei explained quickly.

"Ivan-_oppa_ was accompanying his friends and older sister. I believe he objected to her date," Jae-Soo told them, frowning at Lovino now. "He is not creepy."

"If you say so."

"I thought Yekaterina-_sempai _was dating Karpusi-_sempai_? They've been dating for weeks now," Hsiao Mei murmured.

"Ivan-_oppa_ seemed very surprised by the news."

"Well, while he's out scaring the shit outta the Greek, come and dance," Lovino ordered, holding out his hand.

"I beg your pardon." Jae-Soo stated flatly. Lovino and Hsiao Mei snickered.

"It's a dance with a friend. Take a load off and have a little fun, shit, Jae-Soo," Lovino said, half-laughing.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I have duties."

"Oh, shut the fuck up and let's go," Lovino snapped, grabbing her wrist and pulling her out to the dance floor. Hsiao Mei grabbed both their cups, calling after them to have fun.

It ended up not being so bad. Lovino cussed a lot at her lack of coordination, but it was fun. While dancing, they chatted a bit, but mostly Lovino enjoyed the dancing (as much as he could), and Jae-Soo sort of gazed around, seeing people pair up into couples. Apparently Ivan had given up on his sister and Karpusi, because they were dancing, though the blonde girl was rather teary. She caught sight of Ivan's scarlet and white costume, but turned in the opposite direction and lost him. Matt, wearing yet another gory costume, with a hockey mask pushed up on his head, was dancing with a Japanese girl dressed in a pink dress high above her knees and trailing on the ground in the back with white wings on her back and a pink mask on her face. Alfred and Natalia were at the punch bowls now chatting with Hsiao Mei, whom was smiling brightly, but standing very close to President Kirkland, her two dates having gone outside earlier with their rowdy Danish friend.

"You're really not having fun?" Lovino asked suddenly. Jae-Soo glanced up at him.

"I do not like dancing and Hsiao Mei's recent distress just increased the difficulty of the ordeal," Jae-Soo replied, frowning. "I am having a little more fun now."

"Yeah. That was real shitty," Lovino agreed, sighing. "You could sneak out early. I can't baby you all night."

Jae-Soo scoffed at his last comment, making him chuckle. "I had planned on leaving early, but now it may no longer be possible. I have duties."

"Right, duties. You take things too seriously," Lovino mocked, unwittingly repeating her thoughts about Hsiao Mei, or at least very close. Jae-Soo shrugged. He opened his mouth, and then froze. Confused, Jae-Soo glanced over her shoulder and saw that third year Spaniard boy. "Antonio. Where's Chiara?"

"She went with Felicia somewhere. Do you mind if I steal him away for a dance, _chica?_" Antonio asked, turning his bright green eyes on Jae-Soo. She shook her head and stepped away.

"I am a poor dancer. Have fun, you two," she acquiesced.

Lovino flashed her a smile and then stepped up to Antonio. "What the fuck are you supposed to be? You and your stupid friends better keep those sticks to yourselves!"

"They're _wands_, Lovi. We're the Peverell brothers."

"Who the fuck?"

"I have no idea, but Gil really likes Harry Potter."

Jae-Soo twined through the crowd, feeling rather pleased. There was something about the way Lovino had smiled at her, and the way he had looked at Antonio, that warmed her chest. She kept an eye out for infractions, casually tripping a few students here and there to teach them a lesson for being indecent. Before she made it out of the crowd, another body blocked her. With very traditionally Asian style, he bowed and grinned up at her. He was wearing huge sunglasses that slid down his nose, almost falling off the tip to reveal his twinkling brown eyes.

"May I have this dance, little sister?"

Jae-Soo and Yong-Soo stared at each other for a long moment, but his sunny smile didn't falter.

"Ah, c'mon. It's one dance. We really need ta talk. You've avoided me all semester, da-ze!"

"You still say that?" Jae-Soo questioned, hesitantly holding out her hand. Yong-Soo snatched it and pulled her into the dancing, crowing aloud. She rolled her eyes.

"Man, you shoulda told me what you were wearing. I woulda dressed to match!" Yong-Soo whined when they stood across from each other, waiting for the next song. The look of utter disgust made him laugh. "Ah, it's cool. I like my outfit. Don't I look swag?" he asked, straightened the shiny blue lapels of his suit blazer.

"I do not understand-"

"I'm PSY! _You don't know PSY_?"

"No." The song ended and she facepalmed. "Why is this song playing?"

"What? This is the song mom taught us to dance with. At least you know the steps," Yong-Soo pointed out as the strains of traditional Korean music played.

Most people looked really confused. Yong-Soo only grinned and got into the stance. Jae-Soo sighed and placed her feet and arms properly. Together, they went through the motions, her with her old Korean _choson-ot_ and him with his… swag. It really was the silliest costume ever, made extra silly by the traditional dance and song.

"Look, Jae-Soo, we haven't seen each other since we were 6. We finally got to meet last year again, and all those letters, too, but when Pops told me we were gonna go to the same school, I got _really_ happy. I thought we'd be real siblings, Jae-Soo," Yong-Soo said, his brown eyes serious for once.

Jae-Soo concentrated on the complicated movements before finally forming a reply. "We are very different. We have grown apart by distance and circumstance. I also intensely dislike being touched. I find trying to regain the camaraderie of our toddler years awkward and unnecessary," she replied.

"But! But we're twins! You don't miss it at all? Being able to speak without words, sleeping together, bathing together-"

"_I do not miss bathing with you_."

"-sharing kimchi, and stealing persimmons. We had lots of fun," Yong-Soo finished as if she never interrupted. All the while, they never ceased their dance.

"We were _six_."

"Yeah, but being fifteen means even more fun. Jae-Soo… Pops misses you. He wants you to come with me back to Seoul."

She stared at him, her feet and arms moving automatically, woodenly. "_Aboji_ could not wait for me to leave. Did you forget everything?"

"He really regrets it now! You're his daughter! Plus, DPRK is gettin' real dangerous and people are starving. He's not sure how much longer _omma_ will be able to protect you. He wants _both_ of you back in Seoul."

"We can never be a family again, Yong-Soo," Jae-Soo murmured, lowering her eyes.

"We'll always be family, Jae-Soo. At least come and see Pops again. He wants you to come visit this summer," Yong-Soo told her. The song was ending, thankfully, and they both came to a rest.

"I will consider it," Jae-Soo decided after their last bow. "I will also _attempt_ to make a concerted effort to spend more time with you in school, if you keep your hands to yourself."

"Ah, great! Da-ze!" Yong-Soo exclaimed, sweeping her up and spinning in a wide circle, hugging her tightly. "I love ya, little sister."

_Does nothing I say make it into his thick skull?_ Jae-Soo mentally sighed. He set her back down, but kept his arms around her.

"Wait till I tell YaoYao!"

"Excuse me… you release Jae-Soo now?" said a quiet, yet firm voice. Both Koreans looked up… then up. Yong-Soo had a good couple centimeters on Jae-Soo, but even his neck was craned back to see Ivan's oddly shadowed smile.

"Ah… yeah. Jeez, Jae-Soo, you coulda told me you had a boyfriend. I'll let Pops know~ I better go claim Kiku's breasts before someone else does. See ya!" and he was gone before Jae-Soo could correct him.

"My brother is an imbecile. Excuse him," Jae-Soo told Ivan, rubbing her temples.

"You seem weary. You would like to sit?" Ivan offered. She looked up at him, taking in his costume. She'd seen him only briefly before. He looked very nice in his medal-studded coat with straight, broad shoulders and scarlet trousers. He had told her he was Czar Nicholas Romanov, the last Czar of Russia, which was his favorite period of Russian History to study.

"No, we could-" The next song burst out.

They both turned to see Yong-Soo, quickly joined by Alfred and the "Bad Touch Trio", doing some crazy dance to a Kpop song. Jae-Soo vaguely remembered "Gangnam" as the place she lived in Seoul. Deciding she didn't really want to know more, she tuned it out and turned to Ivan.

"Let us walk a bit outside. I need to do rounds outside," Jae-Soo suggested. Ivan nodded, then bowed and held out his arm. She stared at his crooked elbow and then up to his face.

He chuckled, clasped her hand, making a very bright blush suffuse her cheeks, and then placed her fingertips lightly on the sleeve of his coat. "I shall escort you," he said very formally.

She nodded regally, her lips twitching at the corners. They left the gaudy-bedecked ball room and silly Kpop song behind. The lawn spread out in every direction, broken only by other school buildings and the slope that led down to the sports' field. A few benches and tables had been set up around the building, but a number of people were chatting and laughing away so they kept walking. Jae-Soo dropped her hand from Ivan's arm when they made it outside. It had been rather funny, but she still felt uncomfortable touching Ivan, even just his arm. They only walked silently, neither really wanting to say a word, until they made it to a bench set up around the back corner. There were a few others back here, but mostly the students were scattered and speaking in hushed voices, so Ivan and Jae-Soo perched on the bench and stared up at the moon.

"It isn't full," Ivan observed. Jae-Soo looked at him.

"Should it be?"

"There are much funny and scary stories if the moon is full on Halloween," Ivan told her, grinning. "I am liking scary stories."

"What is your favorite?" Jae-Soo asked, intrigued. There were myths and fables in DPRK, of course, but when the most of the population was starving (or you lived in the mafia), no one really liked hearing more horror stories.

"Ah… my favorite. I have much, but there is a monster that comes out in the full moon. He is called _werewolf_. A man that becomes a wolf when the full moon rises," Ivan whispered eerily. Jae-Soo covered her mouth and chuckled.

"A wolfman is silly, not frightening. Does he only howl and chase after deer?"

"Well, he howls, but he only wants _human flesh_, _da?_ And when he is biting you, you also are a wolfman! Ah, wolfgirl!" Ivan corrected, grabbing Jae-Soo shoulders and growling, making her laugh out loud.

"That is sillier!"

Ivan sighed sadly. "You are difficult to scare."

"Yes, I am."

"What is something scary to you?" he asked, letting his hands fall from her shoulders. She seriously considered this.

"…Things I do not understand, like technology and magic. Those things frighten me, because I cannot control them, I cannot understand how they work. I am frightened… sometimes I am frightened by myself…" she kicked at the grass below her slipper and refused to meet his eye.

"I am knowing that feeling," Ivan whispered, touching her hand. She tensed. The playful "wolfman" grab she shrugged off, but the soft, intimate touch of his hand was confusing, awkward… too intimate, but his hand didn't move. "Why are you frightened of yourself?"

"I did something… I did something unforgiveable…" she murmured, leaning away from him, trying to discreetly move away her hand. "I do not wish to speak of it."

She could hear the intake of his breath as he began to speak again, but a distant sound of her name caught their attention. They both stood up, staring towards the side of the building where most the light spilled from as the urgent sound of her name neared. They had just begun to jog towards it, when Hsiao Mei darted around the corner, looking frantic, her multiple skirts hitched up around her knees and her pretty lacquered shoes gone. Her shoulders slumped at the sight of Jae-Soo and she came running over the grass, dropping one side of her dress to snatch Jae-Soo's wrist.

"It's Lovino, Jae-Soo. He's about ready to beat himself! He's with Felichan now, but he needs you," Hsiao Mei explained vaguely, her words coming a mile a minute, breathless and tumbling over each other.

"What happened?" Jae-Soo demanded, picking up her pace, Ivan right behind them.

"He… he confessed to Antonio, Jaechan," Hsiao Mei blurted. "He looks… oh, you'll see. Hurry!"

"I am running as quickly as possible," Jae-Soo pointed out dryly.

Hsiao Mei led them into the boys' wing of the dormitory, completely ignoring the shouts and protests of the few boys in there. When they made it to Lovino's door, they all stopped to catch their breath, Hsiao Mei outright panting.

"I will go to my room. I am not thinking Lovino wants me in there," Ivan said suddenly. Jae-Soo looked up at him, surprised at his still very serious gaze on her face. "We will talk again, _da_?"

"_Da_," she murmured, privately promising herself to never bring the subject up again.

She watched him walk away, and then turned to Hsiao Mei. Seeing the girl having gotten most her breath back, Jae-Soo pushed open the door. On Lovino's bed was a blanket-covered lump that was cussing and moaning pitifully, while Feliciano perched on the edge of the bed, patting the trembling lump and speaking in soft, musical Italian. He smiled at them sadly when they entered and then Jae-Soo heard her and Hsiao Mei's name in the midst of all that Italian. The blankets were flung into the air and Lovino's emerged, red-faced and puffy-eyed and gasping for air. Feliciano squeaked as the heavy comforter flung at him, knocking him onto the floor painfully. Hsiao Mei hurried to help the little Italian, but Jae-Soo went straight to Lovino, perching on her knees on the mattress right in front of him. He looked wild and that bitter, longing look was back in his amber eyes. He groaned and leaned forward, trapping his head between his knees and tugging at his hair.

"What the fuck was I thinking, Jae-Soo?"

"I do not know. Tell me," she ordered, reaching out to pat his knee.

Lovino laughed hollowly. "So simple. You make it sound so simple, but I was just… I don't even know." He huffed under her breath, trying to work it out. "He did that stupid dance with your twin and the other band of idiots, and came up laughing and breathless and he swept me into this stupid, not-quite a tango, even though some stupid American rap song came on. I could only think about how fucking _gorgeous_ that idiot looked, and how he could make me laugh and I couldn't even remember there were hundreds of kids around us. He… he dipped me at the end, so close to the floor he almost fucking dropped me! I flailed a bit and the next thing I know, he has me up against his chest, and he's doing something stupid with his eyebrows and saying '_mi carino, I'd never drop you, don't you trust me_, and I meant to punch his stupid face, but I was laughing too hard and _said it_. Just, _I love you_, just like that." He looked up at Jae-Soo, his blood-stained eyes desperate. "The look on his face, Jae-Soo. I shoulda fucking punched him!" he wailed.

Jae-Soo scooted closer and wrapped her arms around his shoulders awkwardly, keeping her upper body well away from his. It didn't seem to matter, because as soon as she did it, his arms crushed around her waist and his face pressed against her neck as his shoulders began to shake again. She bit back the sigh and awkwardly patted his back.

"I am sure it will be fine. Perhaps now you will see much less of him and you will not have to hurt so badly. You know the more you are with him, the more you love him and the more you hate him, too. Now, you do not have to feel that way. You gave up your painful secret and now, perhaps, you can move on," Jae-Soo attempted to reason, still patting his back, feeling distinctly uncomfortable with his hot breath on her collarbone and his hair tickling her face. _How do people enjoy being this close?_

He laughed at that, a fractured sort of sound. "Hey, Jae-Soo, you fall in love with the most fucking perfect person in the world, and then tell me when you get the hell over it, okay?"

"Lovino, when I fall in love at all, you will be the first to know. I hope you can handle it, because I will most likely start shooting things. Emotions like this… emotions like this frighten me," she admitted. _One more thing that cannot be controlled, that I could never understand. Just looking at Lovino now, and remembering Hsiao Mei's heartbreak yesterday, I know I would be terrified. _

"It frightens me, too," Lovino replied quietly, his voice thick and choppy, as if his tears were almost getting the better of him. The idea of Lovino sobbing on her made her panic, and she lifted her eyes towards Feliciano and Hsiao Mei pleadingly.

Within one breath and the next, Feliciano and Hsiao Mei climbed onto the bed, enveloping the two in more tight embraces. Jae-Soo was trapped in the middle, mentally ordering herself to take it like a soldier as Feliciano sobbed wildly over her left ear.

"It's going to be fine, Lovino, we're all here for you, _whenever_ you need us," Hsiao Mei earnestly swore.

"I love you, Lovino. Don't- Don't be scared, okay? You don't have to be scared, because we'll love you forever and ever," Feliciano cried pitifully.

"Really?" Lovino sarcastically muttered. He had barely managed to rein himself back in, just barely, but Jae-Soo felt immensely relieved hearing that wry tone back in his voice.

"Yes, of course!" Hsiao Mei answered brightly, sniffling a bit.

"Yes, Lovino, we will always be your friends," Jae-Soo told him firmly, pressing her cheek to his temple. Just for a moment, she dropped her guard and let herself enjoy the moment of warmth and embraces. Feliciano's irritating sobbing was still irritating, but the feel of them all connected was… nice… for a moment. Then she felt suffocated and couldn't help the sigh of relief when Hsiao Mei pulled away.

Lovino pushed Feliciano off Jae-Soo, but let his younger brother wrap around his waist like a leech as he sat up. "Thanks, everyone. Sorry I ruined your night. You were with Ivan, right?" Lovino muttered, rubbing his eyes with his arm and absently stroking Feliciano's auburn hair.

"Yes. It was becoming… discomforting, however," Jae-Soo replied. She didn't notice her hand clasping the other, as if subconsciously recalling his touch there. "I did not mind the interruption."

Hsiao Mei gazed at her curiously, when a loud, frantic pounding sounded on the door. Lovino groaned as Feliciano sat bolt upright.

"I bet that's your potato-eating bastard. Did you forget to tell him where you were?" Lovino snarled, running his hand through his hair.

"I don't remember, ve," Feliciano sniffled. He shuffled off the bed. "I'll tell him I'm okay and he'll go, promise-"

But he never made it to the door. It suddenly flung open, the knocker finally realizing he could try the doorknob. In the doorway was Antonio. His long, black cape was askew on his neck, his wand was gone, and when he entered, the black stone he'd been carrying clattered to the ground. Lovino stared at the tall boy wheezing in the doorway, his tanned face flushed and his usually messy hair now wild and sweat-dampened. Then, shit began to fly. Jae-Soo, Felicinao, and Hsiao Mei hit the deck as pillows, school books, and other miscellaneous school equipment were hurtled over their heads towards Antonio.

"_Get the fuck outta my room, you asshole! Go away! I don't want to see you! Get out!"_

"Stop it, Lovi! Damn it, Lovi! Don't throw a compass at me! That coulda killed me!"

"SO GET THE FUCK OUT!" Lovino roared.

"NO!" Antonio bellowed back, just as loudly. Lovino froze. Jae-Soo glanced up to see him gaping open-mouthed at Antonio, a desk lamp in hand. Then Antonio strode across the room, ignoring the bodies on the floor, and grabbed Lovino's wrists. "Stop that."

"G-Go away," Lovino pleaded.

"No. I have to tell you something. I broke up with Chiara-"

"You bastard! I didn't ask you to do that!" Lovino snarled, trying to wrench away. "Don't fucking pity me!"

"No, Lovi, that's not why. Lovi, stop it and look at me!" Antonio snapped, tugging Lovino off balance to stop him from kicking at his shins again. "Just listen to me!"

Lovino stared at him, completely off-balanced and held up only by Antonio's grip. He was so astonished, he couldn't even retort.

"Me 'n' Chiara have been shaky for years. You know that, _everyone_ knows that. We've broken up a hundred times if we broke up once, and she wasn't the only one who gave up in there. I thought I owed it to her to keep trying, or maybe I was just lazy, or even too much a coward to just end it. But then… just now, you told me how you felt." Antonio paused and let go of Lovino's wrists. Instead, he cupped Lovino's face, smiling half-heartedly, looking sheepish and rueful. "It never crossed my mind that I could love you like that, Lovi. You are the most important person in the world to me, Lovi, but I was just too stupid to think there could be more. When you told me how you felt, it was like I finally opened my eyes. Lovi, I've been in love with you all along, but I was just too stupid to notice."

Lovino made a weird, strangled sort of noise, pulling away to press the heels of his hands to his eyes. "I can't… you can't just…" Lovino stuttered uselessly.

Antonio bent a little at the knees, forcing Lovino's hands away to see tears falling. His rueful smile came back as he wiped the tears off Lovino's cheeks. "Give me another chance, Lovi. I _promise_ I'll do it right. I never want to hurt you again. Let me love you," Antonio begged.

"Y-you…. You are the most ridiculous- the _stupidest_ bastard in the world. But I guess I'm worse," Lovino stated sardonically, scowling and trying not to smile, coming up somewhere in the middle and looking just strange.

"Huh?"

Lovino grabbed Antonio's cloak and yanked him down the short distance between them. Jae-Soo felt the blood rush to her cheeks as Lovino pressed his lips to Antonio's. But it didn't stop there. Antonio froze for a second, but then wrapped him arms around Lovino's waist and pulled him right off his feet. Jae-Soo began to scoot towards the still open door, tearing her eyes away as the kiss deepened. She didn't even watch romance movies because this sort of thing embarrassed the _crap_ out of her. She noticed Hsiao Mei and Feliciano staring, both blushing. She hissed at them and Hsiao Mei hurried to join her at the door, though Feliciano was a little more reluctant.

Jae-Soo nudged Feliciano out into the corridor with her foot, and then slowly closed the door. For a second she glanced towards them one more time. They had broken apart for air. Antonio still had his arms around Lovino's waist and Lovino's hands were on Antonio's shoulders. Their foreheads were pressed together, chestnut hair mingling with sweaty, dark brown. And they were smiling, completely lost in the other's gaze.

She snapped the door closed and walked back to her dorm. She barely even acknowledged Hsiao Mei and Feliciano's departure back to the dance that was coming to a close. She made it to her bed and flopped back, staring at the ceiling. Slowly, she lifted the hand Ivan had laid under his own and pressed it to her rapidly beating heart. The look on Antonio's face, on _Lovino's_ face, as if every wish had come true, as if all the world's happiness was right there in front of him, it made her want to weep, it made her want to smile.

And it made her think of Ivan.

For a split second, she could see Ivan and her like that, smiling and breathless and wrapped up in each other. It _hurt_ how violently her heart beat against her breastbone. The idea of kissing was still very much embarrassing, but suddenly she remembered that brief kiss weeks and weeks ago, the smell of vodka and flowers and coffee and the giddiness she felt during the fall break while she held his scarf to her nose. And the idea of kissing Ivan again, without _polenka_ in her system, made that odd giddiness return.

_I want to be more than friends with Ivan-_oppa, she admitted to herself, brown eyes wide. She pressed her hands to her face as her blush returned. _This is bad. Bad bad bad. I should have stayed in DPRK! I cannot… I cannot handle this. _

"I will pretend it never happened. I will never admit it to him_ ever_," she seethed fiercely.


	8. Sunflowers for Christmas

_Kitty: So, I should work on Seven Sins. … But I'm recovering from sickness and too much karaoke. (I love singing… I'm just terrible at it.) So, I'm going to add a sweet, fluffy chapter for this because that doesn't require too many brain cells. =w=b I finished two chapters for HFT, so why not treat myself to my guilty pleasure?_

_**NOTE: I totally made up the word "Ohbooshi" in the last chapter. I meant to replace it with the real word for "father" and TOTALLY FORGOT before I uploaded it! I fixed it, though! Wow. *facepalm* For reference, it's aboji. See, pretty close, right?**_

_Disclaimer: Rated T for some adult scenes and language, homosexuality, and … I dunno, stuff? Whatev. T sounds good. _

Chapter Eight

Sunflowers for Christmas

Jae-Soo enjoyed the last month and a half of school. It was odd to admit it, but it was true. It was mostly likely because after the fervor of the dance, everything died down to a steady, panicked buzz as mid-terms loomed. She would much rather spend agonizing hours studying, than have her friends babble about dances and costumes and who's going with who, which was the entirety of everyone's conversation immediately following the dance. Lovino was bearable. He hated gossip (unless he wanted to actually hear it), and was so damned happy Jae-Soo just liked being near him. He was still his irascible, foul-mouthed self, but there were moments she would catch him smiling to himself, a faint blush on his face. These moments were usually directly following a visit from Antonio. Antonio ended up being a pretty good guy, too. When he wasn't around that loud-mouthed moron, Beilschmidt, he was actually quite likeable. He even got her laughing a few times. He was a little too touch-friendly, but Lovino had told him off once, and ever since, Antonio had kept his physical affections to Lovino, and, occasionally, Hsiao Mei.

Hsiao Mei was Hsiao Mei. After the dance, she became an honorary member of the Student Council, pretty much, and threw herself into helping out the HR officer and Arthur. Even Jae-Soo, her roommate, rarely saw Hsiao Mei nowadays. Alfred was heard to whine about it between classes, but Hsiao Mei only laughed it off. His whining never lasted long, anyway, since Natalia would join the group and he'd focus his attention on her. If Jae-Soo wasn't so pissed at him for Hsiao Mei's sake, she would have been amazed at how attentive a boyfriend he was.

Jae-Soo herself ended up becoming very busy after the dance. Which she was only thankful for. Since it gave her an excuse.

After doing such a good job at the dance, Arthur had formally requested she become the Disciplinary Officer. Michelle handed it over without a qualm, patted Jae-Soo's back, and was out of the Council room before Jae-Soo had even accepted it. She did end up enjoying her new duties, which were mainly patrolling the halls and reporting infractions to Arthur, and she was able to see Hsiao Mei most often during those meetings.

Ivan she saw less and less of, but the few times she was alone with him were tense and uncomfortable. It always seemed like there were words unsaid between them and she constantly fought saying them and ignoring them. She liked it best when Lovino and Ivan were both studying with her, so she didn't have to try so hard.

One afternoon she was reading over her Japanese homework and frowning. Though similar in structure, Japanese and Korean were completely different in terms of phonetics and reading.

"Why could the Japanese not just adhere to kanji as a written form? Why this _hiragana _nonsense?" Jae-Soo burst out, slapping down her book. She growled at a nearby first year who had the gall to "shhh" her.

Ivan chuckled and took her book. He looked it over and then handed it back. "It is simple fairy tale, _da_? Surely you don't have problem with fairy tales, Jae-Soo?" he teased. She frowned at him.

"You can read Japanese?" she demanded angrily.

"You didn't know your Russki here can speak three languages and read more than five? Though everyone knew that," Lovino joked, leaning on the back legs of his chair and stretching his arms over his head.

"Is that true, Ivan-_oppa_?" Jae-Soo gaped at him incredulously.

"Ah, no," Ivan replied with an awkward grin. Her shoulders slumped in relief. "I speak four languages and a little bit of a fifth."

She gaped at him. "H-How…How could you keep them all separate?"

Ivan and Lovino laughed. "I am living in Russia long time, but my parents are Ukrainian. I learned French in school and one sister is being Belarusian," he explained easily. She mentally tallied the languages and grimaced.

"I find learning just two languages difficult. I concede to your skill. What languages are you able to read?" she asked, intrigued rather than horrified now.

"Ah, too many to think of," Ivan said airily, waving one large hand. Jae-Soo scowled at him. He grinned at her. "If you need help with Japanese, just ask, Jae-Soo."

"You help me altogether too much with my studies. I can never help you in return," Jae-Soo grumbled, glaring at her book.

"You could join me for dinner." She tensed and looked up at him, eyes wide. Ever since that first day…he'd never renewed his offer. He was staring at her intently now, lavender eyes locked with hers. "We never are finishing our conversation on Halloween."

Lovino cleared his throat and leaned forward. "I don't think Jae-Soo can tonight." They both turned to him and he shrugged. "You fuckin' forgot, didn't you, Soo? Antonio's making paella tonight in the dorm kitchen for us. He'll probably cry like a damn baby if you bail out. You know how he is," he reminded her.

"How disappointing. We are having some time before winter break, Jae-Soo, so you can join me soon, _da_? I eat at very good… what is British term… yes, pub. Very good fish and stew," Ivan told her. She nodded, slowly.

"Yes. Soon," she mumbled, scribbling an answer in her Japanese book. "I enjoy fish."

It luckily didn't get any more awkward, but Jae-Soo felt like shriveling in on herself. _Just how much did Lovino know if he could read her so well?_

The two of them walked towards the dorms after the library alone, Ivan heaving left for his pub. Lovino stopped in the middle of the stretch of lawn between the library and the dorms and spun on his heel to face her.

"All right, girl, spill. What the hell's with the deer in headlights look back there, huh?" Lovino demanded. She glanced away, scowling. "Don't think I'm gonna drop it like Ivan did. I noticed you've been avoiding him. Not like he did with you, obviously, but something happened on Halloween and you've been uncomfortable alone with him ever since. What did he say to you?"

"Nothing! Ivan-_oppa_ did nothing! Why do you always sound so accusatory of him? He is a good person, Lovino," Jae-Soo snapped, eyes flashing. "I am sick of your derogatory tone towards him. I am avoiding him because _I_ am having a problem, not him!"

Lovino stared at her, and then grinned. "Look at you, all angry in his defense. You really do like him, don't you?"

Jae-Soo paled. "No."

"Jae-Soo…" Lovino paused and his eyes widened. "Oh, well, fuck, Jae-Soo. You're a bad liar, you know that, right?"

"No! I said nothing!" Jae-Soo snarled. Lovino reached over to touch her shoulder and she pulled away. "Do not touch me! I do not like it… _damn it_," she tacked on for good measure. The word felt filthy and bad, but she felt a little better. "Damn it. Damn it! DAMN IT!" she screamed, stomping her foot. "I do not want this! _Damn it!_"

"Hey, calm down, Soo, it's fine," Lovino soothed, trying to grasp her shoulders again. This time she let him, her brown eyes boring into his, enraged.

"It is _not fine! You do not understand anything, Lovino_! I cannot have feelings like this! I _cannot_! I do not want them!"

"I really don't think they care, Soo," Lovino retorted wryly. Her mouth worked furiously, but she couldn't really contradict him.

"Do they go away?" she finally whispered. He sighed and dragged her forward. She let her forehead rest on his chest as her fingers clenched tightly.

"Sometimes they do, Soo. Sometimes they don't. I wished for years mine for Antonio would go away, but they wouldn't. They never did, but maybe I'm just fucking unlucky like that-hell, maybe it was lucky. I don't even know. But it'll all work out somehow. Don't get angry about it, Jae-Soo," Lovino advised, patting her head while one arm hugged her shoulders. It wasn't the best kind of hug, but it suited Jae-Soo perfectly.

"You and Antonio are content now, Lovino. It was…It was because of you two that I realized it. I want to feel like you feel, but I am scared of it, too. It is just too complicated, too uncontrollable. I do not want to hurt like you did," Jae-Soo confessed quietly, pressing her face into his sweater. He smelled good. It calmed her down little by little, until her fingers slowly relaxed. "I told you I would not be good with this."

"Pft. You haven't even gotten it bad all the way through. Just forget about it, okay? If I scares you, then just… run from it. You're barely fifteen, right? You're young. You can ignore it you want," Lovino said, finally stepping away. She twisted her mouth to the side.

"I do not like the sound of "run from it". Can I not just shoot it?"

Lovino burst into laughter. She joined him, covering her mouth and muffling her chuckles. An awkward hug and a stupid joke and she suddenly felt so much better.

"Antonio did not truly invite me to eat with you. Am I intruding on a date, Lovino?" Jae-Soo asked when they finally returned to walking. Lovino shrugged.

"You can pay for the next one. Antonio won't give a shit, anyway. More the merrier for him."

Jae-Soo hid her smile under the shadow of her bangs. Friends really were useful… and completely irreplaceable.

.

The last day before winter break, Jae-Soo went to class without Hsiao Mei. She rather missed walking with her roommate, but Hsiao Mei was usually gone by the time she came back from her morning jog, off to work with the Student Council or some other club. This morning, she ran into Hsiao Mei and Arthur outside the first year's homeroom. Hsiao Mei's face was suspiciously red, and Arthur's cheeks were a little pink, too. They were standing much too close to one another, and the older teen reached out to touch her shoulder, before pulling his hand away and they both stammered something unintelligible. Jae-Soo stopped in front of them, frowning intently and passing her glance from one face to the other.

"What is happening here?" Jae-Soo ordered. Hsiao Mei burst into giggles, her face brightening to an alarming shade.

"Well, now, Jae-Soo, no reason to say it like that," Arthur spluttered, chuckling awkwardly. Jae-Soo's eyebrow rose. "If you must know, we, _ahem_, MeiMei and I, that is, have decided to become a couple. I just asked her this morning with breakfast," Arthur finally explained, coughing behind his fist and glancing somewhere off to the right.

"_Zhende a!_ He did over scones. It was quite romantic, even though the scones were burnt," Hsiao Mei added, giggling as she poked his bicep. His face reddened.

"They were not burnt that badly, MeiMei! I just forgot for a second! I was planning out exactly what to say and—I really must go. I'll see you at Orchestra," Arthur blurted. He bowed awkwardly, straightened, and walked away at brisk clip, his ears bright red.

"I am confused."

Hsiao Mei glanced at Jae-Soo, smiling dreamily. "Are you? I guess I understand why, but really why dwell over things I can't help? I really like Arthur, you know. We've gotten really close because of all this Council business and he really is handsome, isn't he?" she said, her smile widening. "I feel so lucky! An older, handsome boy likes me! He even asked me out and he's the student president! I keep pinching myself to make sure it's real! I'm dating Arthur Kirkland!" Hsiao Mei squealed, bouncing on her toes in excitement.

"Wh-Wha? You're datin'_who_?"

Jae-Soo turned around to see Alfred and Matt standing there, both with wide eyes.

"Congratulations, MeiMei! I knew you liked hi-" Matt began with true joy for her. Alfred cut him, his blue eyes flat and his lips tightened to a thin line.

"That guy's a total jerk, Mo. Why the hell are you datin' him? You never told me you liked him!" Alfred exclaimed, raising his arms over his head. Hsiao Mei tossed her hair over her shoulder, sweeping past him regally.

"It was none of your business, Jones."

Everyone blinked, flabbergasted.

"She can be, like, real classy when she wants," Chun-Yuen said as he stepped past them. "Don't underestimate my _meimei_."

Jae-Soo shrugged out of her shock, smirking up at Alfred. "Coming?" His look of surprise was more than enough to make up for Hsiao Mei's earlier heartbreak. He looked like Hsiao Mei had just slapped him. Maybe she was being petty, but it sure was humorous.

Alfred pouted through the entire morning's classes. Matt was eager to talk to Hsiao Mei about her and Arthur's relationship and how they finally got together. Apparently, Matt was a romance-junkie. He gushed over Hsiao Mei's story, told in pieces in the short breaks. When they went to break for Orchestra, Alfred finally spoke up.

"Hey, Mo. Uh…I think…I think I need to say sorry." She glanced up at him.

"Oh?" she queried coolly. He flushed.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I rude about it. Just cos I don' like him, doesn' mean I shoulda acted like that. So…uh, congrats, Mo," Alfred mumbled, shuffling a bit. Hsiao Mei smiled brightly.

"Thanks, Jokkun. It means a lot to me. You're my best friend, right?"

"Yeah. _Yeah_, great. Cool." He grinned his big goofy grin. "If that guy's a jerk, though, you tell me. I'll punch him for ya."

She giggled. "Won't be necessary, but thanks."

And it was all normal again. Jae-Soo jumped as a hand lay on her shoulder.

"Sorry. I meant to give this to you," Matt said, handing over a piece of folded paper. Jae-Soo took it, frowning. "It's from Braginski. He's the captain of the hockey team. He told me to make sure Natalia wasn't around when I gave it to you," Matt said, chuckling weakly. She nodded.

"Thank you."

She followed Hsiao Mei into the Orchestra room, unfolding the paper. The whole room was congratulating the new couple, so Jae-Soo found a corner and read the simple note.

_Meet at the greenhouses before dinner_.

She crumpled the note in her fist. She was torn between wanting to go, since he asked and he was her friend, and not going because he obviously wanted her to go alone. Besides… _since when did WUA have greenhouses?_

.

Jae-Soo ended up having to unbury her old school map from the bottom of her desk after classes ended. The greenhouses weren't far from the gym, so she put on her coat and, steeling her nerves, went to meet Ivan. She would have to learn to deal with ignoring her feelings anyway, right? What better way to prove herself stronger than her baser emotions than to directly face a challenge head on and come out the victor? She could be stronger than herself. She had proven that ten times over these past ten years.

_The sounds of screams, the tang of blood, the feeling of rage that had made her blind_—

She shook her head. It wouldn't do to think about that. Just like these new feelings for Ivan that utterly confused her, she had buried that old memory and it would stay buried.

She made it to greenhouses, panting and sweating under her coats. It was freezing in Northern UK now with snow up to her knees. The school janitors kept the paths outside cleared, but the lawns were left smothered and the easiest way to the greenhouses was directly over the snow. At least, she had _thought _that. She should have gone the longer way on the paths, because the thick, heavy snow was impossible to trek through. She made it to the greenhouses and halted, wiping sweat-dampened hair from her eyes. There were three to choose from and Ivan hadn't specified. Then, she saw the light on in the middle greenhouse. The other two were dark. _Well, that was easy, then._

She stepped into the greenhouse and gasped. It was warm and humid in here, like summer in DPRK. She sighed in pleasure, stripping off her overcoat and shuffling a little further in. A few fruit trees grew here, but mostly big, exotic flowers. Some were just bloomed and the scent was intoxicating and heady. She wasn't one for flowers, too much scent like this made her head reel, but it was just so warm and hushed, she couldn't help but like it. Jae-Soo all but tiptoed through the greenhouse, treating these out-of-season blooms likes books in a library, something precious and reverential. She was dizzy by the time she finally caught sight of Ivan kneeling by one of the few bare plots. It was odd to see the flower box on the floor, when most the flowers were up on tables. He turned when he heard her, and grinned. She slowly smiled back and sat on her heels next to him, coat over her thighs and her hands on her knees.

"What grows here?" Jae-Soo whispered.

Ivan glanced at her, his grin now curious. "Why are you whispered?" he asked in a normal tone of voice that jarred in the heavy stillness of the greenhouse. She pressed her finger to her lips.

"Shhh. Will you not upset the flowers being so loud?" she hissed. Ivan turned away, his hand pressed to his mouth as his shoulders shook. She glared at his broad back, sure he was laughing at her.

"Excuse me for being so rude," Ivan finally whispered. She sniffed haughtily and stared at the soil.

"What grows here?" she repeated firmly.

"Sunflowers."

"Sunflowers? A useful flower then. I supposed only useless flowers grew in here," Jae-Soo stated with an approving nod.

"No flower is useless," Ivan murmured somberly. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. His jaw was hard as he put his gardening supplies in a bucket, slowly and neatly. "Sometimes a little of beauty can make the most miserable day brighter."

"I suppose our ideas of beauty are different. I enjoy the beauty of utilitarian lines, of right corners, and simple colors. If it is too bright, if it smells so strongly, it makes my head ache."

"Like sweet things?" Ivan asked. Jae-Soo nodded. "Does your head ache now? The flowers are strong, _da_?"

"Yes, but it is quiet here. The smell of the earth is a good smell," she murmured, touching the bare dirt. "Do sunflowers smell strongly?"

"No. They smell like sunlight. Clean. And bright. And happy."

"You are strange. How can a flower smell like that?" Jae-Soo objected incredulously. He grinned at her, that innocent smile that made him look like a young child.

"You'll must smell for yourself. But for now, I hope this is being enough," Ivan said, digging his hand into his pocket. On his palm, slightly smeared with soil, sat a small sheaf of hair barrettes, all with big, yellow, plastic sunflowers. Well, they weren't terribly big, about the size of her thumbnail, but they were just so bright.

"What…"

"A Christmas gift. I am seeing them and I think Jae-Soo should have this. You do not smile enough, _da_? Let something else be cheerful for you," Ivan said. He unsnapped one, making her flinch at the sound. "You not knowing what these are?"

"They…they are hair…ornaments?" she questioned uneasily. She was sure Hsiao Mei had some, but she had never paid close attention to how she put them on. Ivan chuckled.

"You will take them?"

She opened her mouth to refuse. Surely a gift like this was imprudent to take, but she saw his hopeful, anxious smile and closed her mouth. Slowly, she nodded.

"Good! Here, I will do it, then you can, _da_?" He brushed her bangs to side with his dirty fingers, making her flinch reflexively. Ignoring her motion, he snapped the barrette in place and grinned at her. "No pain. Trust me, Jae-Soo. I won't be hurting you."

Jae-Soo gulped and touched the barrette gingerly. "I look ridiculous."

"You are not knowing that. How can you see? I am seeing a very pretty girl with a pretty hair clip. Not a ridiculous girl," Ivan assured her. "Ah, but I am getting you dirty." He brushed her forehead again with his thumb, and then cursed in Russian seeing only more dirt rub onto her skin. "That was stupid."

The blood rushed to her face. "No. I mean, it is fine. I will wash later. It is only dirt. Ivan-_oppa_ is not stupid." She reached out and touched his hands, clasping them both between hers, even though she was trembling. "You gave me a gift. Thank you, Ivan-_oppa_. You are too kind to me."

"I am not kind."

She glanced up, frowning. Instead of his playful, teasing smile, he was gazing at her seriously.

"I am very selfish, Jae-Soo. I do this because _I_ want to, because you are now wearing _my_ sunflower. When others ask, you will be saying I am the giver, _da_? And so they will know you are special. Perhaps I am not to you as special, but one day I will. I am not liking to wait, but I will for now."

Her grip tightened around his hands, eyes widening, before she got to her feet. "You are confusing."

"I am only confusing because you are not wanting to understand," Ivan replied with a shrug. He also got to his feet, looming over her. She suddenly hated how tall he was. He grabbed her hand, tightening his hold when she tried to pull away. The remaining three barrettes on their cardboard square were pressed into her palm. "Have a happy Christmas in Taiwan, Jae-Soo."

"You…you, as well, Ivan-_oppa_," she mumbled lamely. Her heart was beating too quickly, too loudly, and too much of her wanted his hand to linger on her wrist. So, she took Lovino's advice.

She ran.


End file.
